The Aspen's Screech
by Whisperblaze luvs Dramione
Summary: No one understood. No one heard the constant voices in her head or saw the visions of blood and torture that danced in her eyes throughout her dreams and waking hours alike. She was insane, after all. Everyone knew it. And yet he was still there for her, constantly reminding her of the good in the world. But sometimes what is good can be overcome and destroyed by what is evil.
1. Allegiances and Chap1: Hopeful Wishes

**Disclaimer: I in no way own warriors. I do, however, own this story and the characters in it ;) Hope you enjoy!**

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ThunderClan

Leader: Blazestar—black tom with ginger chest and paws and yellow eyes (Emeraldsong's mate and Batkit and Poolkit's father)

Deputy: Smokeleg— white tom with smoky grey foreleg and green eyes (Glacierfire's mate and Aspenkit, Shinekit, and Whiskerkit's father)

Medicine cat: Wingfeather—white and cream she-cat with amber eyes

Warriors:

Tailstripe—plain brown tom with striped white tail and yellow eyes

Pepperheart—light silver tom with black underbelly and yellow eyes

Saltytooth—dark grey she-cat with lighter splotches and amber eyes (Geckostripe's mate and Skypaw and Fangpaw's mother)

Shadowpelt—black tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Cardinaltail—tortoiseshell tom with ginger tail and green eyes

Toothshade—white she-cat with ginger muzzle and tortoiseshell legs and ears and amber eyes

Shimmersoar—long furred black and white she-cat with green eyes (Heatcloud's mate and Rufflepaw, Flamepaw, and Wonderpaw's mother)

Geckostripe—white and brown tabby tom with yellow eyes (Saltytooth's mate and Skypaw and Fangpaw's father)

Dapplefoot—light silver tabby she-cat with tortoiseshell paws and green eyes

Rockpelt—dark brown tom with brown patches and blue-green eyes

Heatcloud—ginger tom with amber eyes (Shimmersoar's mate and Rufflepaw, Flamepaw, and Wonderpaw's father)

Sweetfang—light and dark brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Apprentices:

Rufflepaw—long furred dark ginger tom with black splotches and green eyes

Flamepaw—bright ginger tom with white paws and amber eyes

Wonderpaw—light ginger she-cat with black and white patches and amber eyes

Skypaw—brown and gray tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Fangpaw—dark brown tom with grey stripe running down back

Queens:

Glacierfire—beautiful black and silver tabby she-cat with blue-green eyes (Smokeleg's mate and Aspenkit, Shinekit, and Whiskerkit's mother)

Emeraldsong—white she-cat with green eyes (Blazestar's mate and Batkit and Poolkit's mother)

Kits:

Aspenkit (Screechkit)—silver and black tabby she-cat with silver ears, paws, and tail tip and blue-green eyes (Glacierfire and Smokeleg)

Shinekit—silver she-cat with green eyes (Glacierfire and Smokeleg)

Whiskerkit—smoky gray and white tom with blue eyes (Glacierfire and Smokeleg)

Batkit—black tom with ginger stripe running down back and yellow eyes (Emeraldsong and Blazestar)

Poolkit—white she-cat with black ears and tail, ginger paws, and green eyes (Emeraldsong and Blazestar)

Elders:

Woodshade—dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes

Snowvine—white she cat with grey stripe running down back and yellow eyes

WindClan

Leader: Thornstar—tabby brown tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Willowbreath—heather she-cat with darker markings – yellow eyes

Medicine cat: Branchtail—tortoiseshell tom with green eyes

Warriors:

Windytalon—cream and brown tom

Cutfeather—yellow and tortoiseshell she-cat

Burnpelt—russet tom with white stripes

Lizardshine—light brown tom

Ropetail—dark brown tabby tom with black tail

Owlsoar—dark grey and brown tabby she-cat

Strawpelt—light brown tabby she-cat

Beeflight—silver and white tom

Hedgeleaf—brown tom with grey patches and green eyes (Goldspark's mate and Wolfkit and Spikekit's father)

Brownclaw—brown tom with white tipped ears and paws

Apprentices:

Cornpaw—cream tabby tom

Nettlepaw—dark cream tom with brown tail

Freezepaw—cream and brown tabby she-cat

Queens:

Goldspark—gold and silver tabby with blue eyes (Hedgeleaf's mate and Wolfkit and Spikekit's mother)

Kits:

Wolfkit—grey and brown tabby with silver paws and ears and blue eyes

Spikekit—golden tom with brown stripes and tail and green eyes

Elders:

Hazelfoot—silver tabby she-cat with darker spots

Grapeskip—grey and cream tom

RiverClan

Leader: Palestar—long furred light grey she-cat with blue-green eyes

Deputy: Stripechest—silver tom with dark stripe running along chest and belly – orange eyes

Medicine cat: Glidepelt—ginger and silver dappled she-cat with yellow eyes

Warriors:

Jaggedtalon—scruffy brown and grey tom

Furbranch—brown tom with black neck fur

Avalanchetail—light cream she-cat with black underbelly

Swiftbrook—silver tabby she-cat

Meadowheart—cream and tortoiseshell she-cat with black ears

Antwhisper—dark grey and brown tom

Windtail—brown tom with grey tail

Rippleshade—silver tom with black tail and forelegs, bright amber eyes

Wavelight—light silver and tortoiseshell she-cat, yellow eyes

Apprentices:

Salmonpaw—silver she-cat with white paws

Shrimppaw—dappled silver and white tom

Queens:

Flowershadow—silver she-cat with cream, brown, and black patches

Kits:

Stormkit—dark grey and brown tom

Berrykit—cream and silver tabby she-cat

Lilykit—black and silver she-cat

Elders:

Petalthorn—silver and grey tabby she-cat

Lightheart—yellow and cream she-cat

Nutbreeze—brown tabby tom

ShadowClan

Leader: Moonstar—black she-cat with white dappled pelt and blue eyes

Deputy: Rustclaw—dark brown tabby tom with dark amber eyes

Medicine cat: Soilfoot—brown tom with black paws and tail – grey eyes

Warriors:

Misteyes—dark grey tom with black rings around eyes

Sunleap—she-cat with pelt that fades from grey to white

Sharpfang—brown tom with black and white chest and neck

Darkclaw—light brown she-cat with black paws

Scorpionwing—black and brown tabby with white ear tips and paws

Clawpelt—black tom with silver forepaw

Apprentices:

Lightningpaw—light brown tabby tom

Bluepaw—black she-cat with blue eyes

Falconpaw—dark grey tom with white stipe along back

Queens:

Fruitstep—tortoiseshell and black and white she-cat

Kits:

Applekit—black she-cat with tortoiseshell chest

Pinekit—white and black tom with tortoiseshell forepaws

Blizzardkit—tortoiseshell tom with black ears

Scratchkit—tortoiseshell tom with white chest and paws

Elders:

Hailcloud—black and white tom with silver ears

Treewhisker—silver she-cat with black underbelly

Gorsefall—tortoiseshell she-cat with silver ears

. . . ….. . . .

Light filtered into the den, resting on the two queens resting peacefully with their small families. The only movement was the calm and steady up and down of the cats' chests as they breathed, deep in sleep. A quiet murmur came from outside where the warriors and apprentices were being sent on patrols, the new day having had started. It was just another day in ThunderClan.

"WindClan is attacking!" a tiny voice yelled loudly in the nursery, startling one of the queens into jumping in surprise. The other kits in her nest mewled pathetically, awake now and hungry. The other queen, a bright white she-cat with green eyes, looked up sleepily from her two kits and snuggled up closer to them; thankfully they had not woken up. They needed their rest.

"Aspenkit!" the first queen whisper-yelled at her kit. "Quiet down! Your brother and sister are still sleeping!" The mewling from the nest continued. The black and silver tabby sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, _were_ sleeping I guess." She narrowed her blue green eyes at Aspenkit. "You really shouldn't go doing things like that, at least in the morning when everyone's sleeping."

The kit's head drooped sadly and she looked at the ground, then back at her mother with round eyes. "I'm sorry, Glacierfire."

Glacierfire looked at her and sighed in defeat. "Oh, it's okay. You know I can never stay mad at you when you pull the pouty face move!"

Aspenkit grinned and hopped up and down. "But you still have to be quiet in here," her mother added.

Aspenkit sat down again but looked up at Glacierfire. "Then can I go outside?"

"No," her mother replied. "You know you have to wait until Whiskerkit and Shinekit open their eyes."

Aspenkit looked disappointed but didn't argue. Her mother wouldn't change her mind on that. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know," Glacierfire said. "But just do it quietly. Emeraldsong kitted yesterday, so she needs as much rest as she can get." They looked over at the new queen, who was already sound asleep. "So either do something silent in here or go back to bed."

Aspenkit grumbled and decided on the latter. Glacierfire stepped into her nest and curled around her family. Already, after only a quarter moon, they were proving to be a handful, but she knew they were worth it. She looked at each of her kits in turn. Shinekit, the plain silver she-cat, was the smallest of the litter and she had her mother's build and silver fur. Next was Whiskerkit, the largest of the litter, who was smoky gray and white. He had the strong, broad shoulders of his father and she knew he would make a great warrior. Neither had opened their eyes yet, though, and Glacierfire was hoping that at least one of them would have his eye color. The last kit, Aspenkit, was almost an exact replica of her mother. She was a beautiful, silky furred, silver and black tabby she-cat, only differing from her mother with her silver ears, paws, and tail tip. Other than that, though, they were identical.

Glacierfire looked up as the shadow pattern on the ground changed dramatically in the way it did when someone walked into the nursery. She immediately grinned and purred at the sight of the strong white tom with the grey foreleg, Smokeleg.

"It's nice to know the deputy can take some time out of his busy schedule to visit his family," she purred as he bent his head and rubbed her cheek.

"How are they?" Smokeleg asked, his green eyes alive and bright at seeing his kits.

"Good," Glacierfire answered. "But Aspenkit did wake up at dawn and yell that WindClan was attacking." She searched her mate's gaze in pretend question. "Did that actually happen? Is everyone okay?"

Smokeleg purred and rolled his eyes. "No, it must have been a false alarm!" He nudged the now sleeping form of his daughter with his nose and smiled. "This one's going to be a trouble maker, isn't she?"

"She already is," Glacierfire groaned, but looked at Aspenkit lovingly. "Maybe she'll change, though." She licked the top of her head slowly. "But I don't care. I love them all just the way they are."

Smokeleg nodded as he watched. "Are you sure you don't want me to move in here with you?" he asked, concerned. "I know how much work it must be and I don't want you to have to—"

"I'll be fine, trust me!" Glacierfire exclaimed, exasperated. "Now go, don't you have a patrol to be on or something?" Smokeleg sighed and nodded, looking at his family one more time. "I'll visit you later, okay?" He said turning to the entrance. "Okay, have fun on the patrol!" She called, curling back into the nest as her mate left, calling for a few other warriors.

She looked down at her three kits, happiness filling her up until she felt she would spill over. She sighed contentedly as she settled in, feeling the three heartbeats next to her as she closed her eyes.

 _This is perfect,_ she thought to herself before she drifted into sleep. _I hope my family will always be this carefree and happy._

 **. . . ... . . .**

 **875 words. Good start!**

 **Heyyyyyy guys! This is Whisperblaze! If you're reading this then THANK YOU! Hopefully it means that you've just read chapter 1 of The Aspen's Screech! And if you're thinking "wow this chapter was super boring, I'm never reading this story again," (which hopefully you aren't thinking XD) the story will get better since this was just chapter one and everybody knows chap1 of a book is always SUUUPER boring XD Now I bet you're thinking 'wow, how did she guess what I was thinking?' Whatever, point is it will get better. I PROMISE. Anyways, thank you again if you read chap1! This is my first fanfic ever if that's not obvious…hopefully it's not….so thank you SOOO MUCH for reading it! Don't forget to review, I'll answer any q's (questions) you might have about the story! I'll update as soon as possible! Byeeeee!**

 **Ps-if I make any spelling/grammar mistakes (or really any mistakes at all) PLEASE tell me. Im a really bad speller. One time in social studies I spelled "snow" wrong. No joke. So yea, tell me if u can. Thnx!**


	2. The Perfect Day

**Hey! Hopefully this chapter is a bit more interesting or longer or whatever! Anyways, if you have any suggestions or corrections (that rhymes! XD) for the story, just leave it in a review and I promise I will read it! Enjoy the new chapter!**

Aspenkit woke to the feeling of cold air on her pelt, the only warmth coming from the side where Glacierfire lay. Realizing what that meant, Aspenkit flew out of the nest and barreled into her already-awake siblings, who squealed with delight at their sister. She jumped apart from the two, panting happily. "You guys are finally awake!"

"Yep!" Shinekit squeaked excitedly, wiggling her rump in the air and bouncing around the nursery. Whiskerkit pounced on her as she leaped by him and they resumed their tussling. They eventually broke apart and Aspenkit was able to see that Whiskerkit had blue eyes while Shinekit had green eyes like her father. _Glacierfire must be happy about that,_ she thought to herself.

"It took you two _sooooooo_ long to open your eyes! It's been half a moon!" Aspenkit complained at them, then asked in a lighter mood, "Are you excited to see? How is it?"

Shinekit opened her mouth to speak but Whiskerkit beat her to it. "It's great! I couldn't've imagine that there could be so many different colors!" Shinekit growled at him and leaped on her brother. "You'll pay for interrupting me, you evil ShadowClan cat!"

"But it's not interrupting if you never started speaking!" he growled at her playfully and pushed her off. Shinekit recovered quickly and was about to attack again when a purr stopped her.

"Oh, you kits!" They all turned to see the other queen, Emeraldsong, and her two suckling kits in the corner. The pure white queen smiled at the three kits. "It's hard to believe that you're only half a moon old, considering how lively and strong you are already!"

Aspenkit gave a little hop and purred. "Thanks, Emeraldsong!" She peered at the two little bundles of fur curled up next to her. "Have you named your kits yet?"

"Yes, actually, my mate and I named them yesterday. This one," she said, motioning to the little black tom with the ginger stripe running down his back, "is Batkit, and this one," she motioned to a white she-cat with black ears and tail and ginger paws, "is Poolkit."

"Those are great names!" Whiskerkit said, in awe of the kittens, not being able to look away from them. "When will we be able to play with them?"

"As soon as their eyes are open!" she replied, nudging Batkit and licking Poolkit. "It shouldn't be too long now, but you never know."

All of a sudden, Aspenkit jumped into the air as if she had sat on something sharp. "Mousedung, I forgot!" She shouted excitedly, causing Batkit and Poolkit to squirm in their nest, Emeraldsong licking them comfortingly.

"What?" Shinekit asked.

"We can go outside today!" Aspenkit exclaimed, hopping around the room, which now seemed so stuffy and boring compared to how great she knew the outside would be.

Her siblings gasped and jumped on Glacierfire, unable to contain their excitement. "Oh, can we can we can we can we CAN WE Glacierfire please please please please PLEASE?"

Glacierfire growled, annoyed. "Yes! Just let me get some sleep!" The kits were exploding out of the nursery before she could even finish her sentence. Grumbling to herself, she curled up in the nest again and sighed, resting her head on her paws. She heard Emeraldsong purr. "Get your rest and don't worry. I'll go watch them." Glacierfire was too tired to tell her to stay and watch her own kits. She just let her get up and walk outside.

There was a collective gasp between the three of them as Aspenkit, Whiskerkit, and Shinekit stopped in the middle of the camp. Looking around, they were in awe as they walked, taking in the sights of the camp: the warriors leaving for patrols, some returning, the fresh kill pile, and what could only be the Highledge. Then the dens: the warriors den, apprentices den, medicine cat den, nursery, and the elders den. It was too much to take in in one day.

Aspenkit was so busy gaping at the greatness of the camp that she didn't see the warrior before she walked right into him. Embarrassed, she ducked her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine," the voice said. Recognizing it, Aspenkit perked up immediately and barged into the cat. "Smokeleg!" Her father purred and batted at her ears as she stood on his chest. "I, Aspenstar, leader of ThunderClan, have defeated the leader of ShadowClan, Dumbfacestar!"

Whiskerkit and Shinekit mewed with excitement and jumped onto Smokeleg, too, pulling at his fur with their tiny teeth. "The two other leaders of ThunderClan helped, too, Whiskerstar and Shinestar!" Aspenkit declared happily. "Now give us all the badger rides we want!" Smokeleg playfully growled and narrowed his eyes. "You'll have to take them from me."

Aspenkit sat on him, looking into his eyes, excitement alive in them. "That can be arranged. NOW!" she yelled, all three kits jumping on his face in unison. He yowled in surprise, attempting to bat them off. He tossed his head and they held on, squealing happily. Finally, he collapsed, gasping overdramatically for breath, apparently exhausted. "Fine." He choked out. "You win. I'll give you a badger ride!"

Aspenkit, Whiskerkit, and Shinekit celebrated their victory by howling at the sky. "I knew we could defeat Dumbfacestar!" Aspenkit exclaimed.

The three hopped on their father's back as he charged around camp, yelling like a badger, stomping around in the way that the blundering creatures do. A few warriors shot them looks, some surprised, some amused, some annoyed. Aspenkit didn't care; she was just glad that she was able to spend so much time with her family. Smokeleg eventually had to go on a patrol, so the badger ride was put on pause until another day. Aspenkit was fine with it. Taking a break was no big deal.

As Aspenkit climbed off her father's back, she noticed that they had played badger ride well past sundown. Would Glacierfire be worried? Not waiting for the other kits to get off of Smokeleg's back, Aspenkit dashed over to the nursery only to find Glacierfire talking and laughing with Emeraldsong. Relieved, she backed away before they could see her; her mother deserved as much peace and quiet as she wanted, even if it was just a few extra moments.

She sat alone by the nursery watching the last few rays of sunshine disappear over the treetops. It had been a great day, a perfect day. As her siblings came trotting over to her and they went inside to curl up next to Glacierfire in their nest, Aspenkit couldn't help but hope that every day would be like this one.

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **Ha! There was exactly 1111 words of the story today! I love it when that happens! Anyways, Aspenkit learned the other kits' names today, they played with their father, and they managed to annoy their oh-so-loving mother. Idk 'bout u, but I think that's a pretty full chapter! Let me know what you think about it in a review! So this chapter was actually going to have a lot more in it, but then I started writing and this happened instead so I guess I'll just push it back into chap3 and 4 or whatevs. Definitely tell me if u have any ideas for the story! I'll read them, I promise! And sorry if this chap is a bit rushed or something, its like 12:45 at night and im tired and stuff so yea srry. I'll try to update tomorrow! And sorry that my author's notes are so long. I'll try to keep them short from now on. Ok byeeeee!**


	3. Before the Chaos

**Shout out to littleauthorgirl for being the first person to review! U R DA BEST! Keep reviewing plz!**

Aspenkit, Whiskerkit, and Shinekit sat outside the nursery, watching the warriors and apprentices scurry by, their jobs and patrols in mind. The three were now a moon old and every day since playing badger ride with Smokeleg had been amazing. Aspenkit was always so excited and happy when a day ended and she could look back on it with warm thoughts. Her siblings weren't as sentimental as her, but she knew that they were glad that their lives were so full of happiness and fun, too.

She looked up at the sun, which was just barely peeking over the trees. Leaffall was drawing to a close, and though most of the trees still had their leaves, Aspenkit knew it mustn't be long until they were stripped to the bone…or to the bark, she supposed.

She wondered why everyone always made such a big deal about leafbare. It couldn't possibly be as bad as Glacierfire said it was, could it? Besides, the idea that cold, tiny flakes of white could fall from the sky sounded ridiculous to Aspenkit. Good thing it wasn't leafbare yet, though, if "snow" actually did exist. Rain would be the only thing ThunderClan would see for a while yet. And the clouds in the sky told Aspenkit that they may be getting some of that soon, based on the dark grey color they possessed.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Batkit and Poolkit came jumping out of the nursery, screaming and yelping in delight. The two had opened their eyes about a quarter moon ago and had joined in with the older kits in the fun little activities that they did each day.

"What are we going to do today?" Batkit asked, sitting down, his tail waving in excitement. Poolkit watched it intensely, green eyes wide, ears perked, and pounced, batting it with her little ginger paws. Batkit growled and jumped on her, eventually using his greater weight to his advantage, sitting on her to keep her down.

"Help!" Poolkit squawked out. "He's too fat! He'll kill me!"

"You take that back!" he squeaked good-naturedly. "Or I'll sit on your head until you do!"

Poolkit yelped in fear. "Okay, okay you win! You're the skinniest cat in the forest!" Batkit got off her, yellow eyes gleaming with victory. Poolkit turned away, muttering under her breath, "Yeah, more like skinniest _badger_ in the forest." Batkit growled and lashed his tail, but amusement lit up his eyes.

Aspenkit, Whiskerkit, and Shinekit watched the whole exchange quietly, then butted in when another "fight" could start. "Okay, so what _do_ you guys want to do today?"

The five kits pondered the question. "Well," Batkit said, "we played mossball yesterday, so that's out." The group nodded their agreement.

"What about a scavenger hunt?" Whiskerkit piped up. "We could look for bugs and leaves!"

Poolkit sighed, "No, been there, done that."

"So what, then?" Shinekit asked. There was silence as everyone thought, then a new, lower voice spoke up.

"You five could come help us with collecting cobwebs if you'd like."

They gasped and turned around at the familiar voice that was heard so often in the nursery. There stood a strong black tom with a ginger chest and paws, yellow eyes gleaming with pride for his kits, and a white and cream she-cat next to him.

"Blazestar!" Poolkit and Batkit shrieked, jumping at their father in a flurry of legs and tails. Blazestar fell back, purring, his kits' attacks on him doing very little to weaken him at all. He stood up, the two hanging from his pelt, and carefully shook them off. They tumbled to the ground, laughing, and got back up, unfazed.

"Do you really mean it, Blazestar?" Shinekit asked, cautious to not get her hopes up in case he wasn't serious. "Can we really come and help you guys collect cobwebs?"

"Sure," the cream and white she-cat standing next to the leader spoke up. "I can always use some more for my supply. And the more paws there are, the more we can bring back!" Aspenkit realized this must be the medicine cat, Wingfeather, whom her mother had told her about. None of the kits had gotten injured in the time they spent outside, so there was no reason for them to have payed her a visit yet. Aspenkit wondered how long that record would keep up.

"So when do we leave?" Shinekit asked, kneading the ground with her silver paws. Blazestar looked around, then called over three more cats, Rufflepaw, a long furred dark ginger tom with black markings on his pelt, Flamepaw, a tom with a bright ginger pelt and white paws, and Wonderpaw, a light ginger she-cat with black and white patches.

"Are you three doing anything right now with your mentors?" Blazestar asked. When they shook their heads, he nodded. "Good. Will you come with us to collect cobwebs? I need one cat with each kit so they don't get into too much trouble."

"Sure, Blazestar," Flamepaw said casually, licking his paw and drawing it over his head. "All of our mentors went on a hunting patrol together without us, so we're all free for whatever."

The kits all paired up with one of the five other cats. Batkit was with Blazestar, Poolkit was with Wingfeather, Whiskerkit was paired with Rufflepaw, Shinekit went with Flamepaw, and Aspenkit went with Wonderpaw. They lined up, a kit with their partner side by side, so that each kit walked next to their partner and no one else. Blazestar and Batkit were in the front and Wingfeather and Poolkit went in the back. Wonderpaw and Aspenkit were stuck in the very center of the group, Shinekit and Flamepaw in front of them and Whiskerkit and Rufflepaw behind.

Aspenkit was so excited to be going out of camp that she started bouncing on her paws. It was going to be her first time past the thorn barrier, her first time out of the hollow! Even if all they were doing was collecting cobwebs, it still meant that she got to see the sights of the forests: the towering trees, the billowing branches and leaves, the assorted shrubs and bushes. It was too much to think about and stand still while doing so!

Aspenkit looked around her as they trotted into the thorn tunnel. _This must do really well at keeping intruders out,_ she thought to herself. _Barging through this thing must leave a painful mark on any dumb WindClan, ShadowClan, or RiverClan cat!_

When they shot out into the forest, Aspenkit was totally unprepared for the explosion of color and sounds that greeted her. The many different shades of green, the pinks and yellows of the flowers littering the ground, the brown bark of the enormous trees leaning in towards her; it was too much to take in! Coupled with the chirps from the birds and insects and the scuffling of the prey in their burrows, the forest was already extremely overwhelming to Aspenkit.

Wonderpaw purred as she watched her partner gaze around at the forest in awe, amazement, and bewilderment. "That was my reaction the first time I went out here!" she said, eyes narrowed in amusement. "Trust me, you'll get used to it!"

The group of ten started their journey into the forest, the kits' eyes all whirling around, trying to see everything at once, the older cats watching them, entertained by their gasps of surprise and astonishment. Every three feet, at least one of the kits would paw at their partner, asking some question like "what is that clearing used for? Is it battle training? No?" and "could you climb that tree all the way to the top?" and "why can't I be an apprentice now?"

After a very long and question-filled walk, the ten cats finally reached their destination, a scraggly old tree with heaps of cobwebs strung about on the outside roots. The five kits all gasped simultaneously at the sight of the webs, the afternoon sunlight glinting off of them and creating a dazzling display of light and color. They oohed and aahed as they circled around the tree, trying to find the most beautiful position of the webs.

Eventually, Blazestar cleared his throat, grabbing their attention, putting their fun to an end. "Now, all you have to do is swirl your paw around a clump of cobwebs." He demonstrated, sticking his paws into the mass of white and spinning it around, then drawing it out, holding it up so the kits could see the neat coil of cobwebs. "They stick to your paws pretty easily, so you don't have to try all too hard. Just grab one pawful for now; between all of us, we should be able to collect enough."

The kits went at it, sticking their whole arms in, reaching until the webs met their shoulders. Then they followed Blazestar's example, swirling their arms until they each had a huge glob of cobweb stuck to them. Wonderpaw purred in laughter as Aspenkit came hobbling up to her, the webs making her foreleg look five times its size.

Once everyone had their webs, they fell in line again and headed back towards camp. Aspenkit was sad that they had to leave so soon, but was glad that they at least got the chance to go out at all. As they walked away from the web tree, Aspenkit awkwardly shuffling along due to her oversized leg, she turned towards Wonderpaw. "So are you, Rufflepaw, and Flamepaw going to be made warriors soon? Haven't you been apprenticed for forever now?"

Wonderpaw laughed. "Yes, my brothers and I are having out final assessments tomorrow, actually, so we'll hopefully be warriors by tomorrow night."

Aspenkit nodded. "What's your favorite thing about being an apprentice?"

Wonderpaw thought about that for a moment. "I've got to say battle practice. It's really fun to learn new moves that can be used to defend the clan."

"Have you fought in any battles yet?"

Wonderpaw stiffened slightly at the question. "Yeah, I've been in a few."

"Do you remember the last one you were in?"

Wonderpaw bit her lip and swallowed nervously. "I was in a battle a few days ago, when we had a fight at WindClan's border." She growled under her breath. Just thinking about those rabbit chasing thieves made her blood boil. "They've been stealing our prey and our land. We won that battle, but I have a feeling they haven't given up."

Aspenkit didn't ask any more questions. Wonderpaw was always so cool and levelheaded, so seeing her spitting and hissing was definitely something that sent Aspenkit the sign to just look forward and walk.

They reached camp as the sun started dipping towards the ground again, the clouds surrounding it thicker than before. Wingfeather directed the group towards her den and told them to leave the webs just outside of the entrance; she would organize them and put them away for the cats.

As the four other kits hopped happily over to the nursery, Aspenkit ran up to them hurriedly, shushing their questions for why she was so looking so frantic. "You guys," she whispered. "Wonderpaw just told me that WindClan has been stealing our territory and prey!"

"What?!" Batkit yelped, earning more shushing from the others. "How dare they!?" he hissed, quieter now.

"Yeah," Shinekit said, her green eyes alight with rage. "That stuff belongs to ThunderClan!"

"Wonderpaw said that there was a battle a few days ago at the border and that ThunderClan won"—there were nods and smirks of contentment at that—"but she says that they'll probably try again." Aspenkit scowled. " _That's_ why we were collecting cobwebs! ThunderClan need them for the warriors' injuries when we have another battle with WindClan!"

"More like when we have more battle _s_ with WindClan," Whiskerkit hissed, emphasizing the _s_ in battles. "If it's as bad as you say it is, I doubt there will only be one more."

They sat there in silence, all thinking to themselves, each getting angrier with every second that passed. Poolkit finally broke the silence. "So what do we do?"

Aspenkit narrowed her eyes in thought, then looked at them all in turn. "We spy on their camp. Tonight."

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2037 words! High five! Not bad!**

 **In this chap, Asp meets Blazestar, Wingfeather, Rufflepaw, Flamepaw, and Wonderpaw and starts planning to get into some mischief that will be seen next chap! I'm not gonna give anything away, but I will say that one of the five characters plays a VERY big role in this story! Like, a HUUUUUUGE role. Guess who u think it is and their role in a review and I'll reply and say if ur right! Thnx for reading! I'll try to update soon! Also leave suggestions and corrections if u want to! Don't forget to REVIEW! Byeeeee!**


	4. The Secret Mission

**Here's another chap for da story! Longest one yet! U guys, this one is really exciting (I think), well at least at the end, so enjoy and don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! XD XD XD**

A brilliant pair of blue-green eyes blinked open in the black of night. The owner shook her head, trying to wake up. The two eyes darted to the entrance of the nursery, just barely seeing the moon peeking through the heavy clouds covering the sky, still not having had rained themselves out.

The blue-greens looked back inside, connecting with the two pairs next to her, one green, one blue. They nodded their consent, acknowledging that they had seen her.

They all turned to the corner of the room, searching for two more sets of eyes. They waited, a breeze stirring their fur as it swept through the den, chilling them to the bone. After what seemed like an eternity and when they were about to leave without them, two more pairs of eyes opened, revealing yellow and green eyes staring back at the three others.

They sat there, staring at each other, until the blue eyed cat slowly and quietly got out of his nest, then made his way over to the nursery entrance. Once he was out, the green eyed kit from the other nest followed in the way the other cat had done, soundlessly stepping out of her nest, making sure not to disturb her mother. Then the other green eyed kit left, leaving her sister by herself while she escaped the room.

The blue-green eyes turned to the last pair left, the yellow one, whose owner was slowly making his way out of his nest. He froze halfway, though, the queen in his nest shifting slightly. The yellow eyes grew to the size of mossballs in fear, widening until the whites of them were clearly seen. The queen let out a huge yawn, turned over, and went back to sleep, much to the relief of the two kits. Quickly and quietly, the yellow eyed kit got out of the nest, scampered through the entrance, and ran out into the cold leaffall air.

The only kit left was the blue-green eyed cat, who slowly moved away from her mother. She carefully placed one paw over the edge of the nest, then another, and another. As silently as possible, she drew the last one out, breathing a sigh of relief that nothing had awaken her mother, and she walked out of the stuffy den.

Aspenkit slid into the outside clearing of the hollow, meeting up with the other kits. She slapped her tail across her mouth, telling them to stay quiet. Then she pointed it at the thorn barrier, where Sweetfang sat guarding the camp. Aspenkit shook her head and pointed the tail instead at the dirtplace tunnel. Since the wind was blowing towards the tunnel, hopefully Sweetfang wouldn't smell them and detect that they were there.

The others nodded and they crept around the outside of the camp, keeping to the shadows so that Sweetfang didn't see them.

They had reached the dirtplace tunnel right when Sweetfang turned towards them. "Hey!" she whisper-called. They all instinctively pressed into the thorns of the outer barrier.

Sweetfang purred, amused. "What are you doing, Poolkit? It's okay if you use the dirtplace!" Aspenkit inwardly fainted in relief. Sweetfang had only seen Poolkit and her white pelt. The others pressed themselves farther into the thorns.

Poolkit blinked in surprise. "Um . . . okay! Thanks, Sweetfang!"

Aspenkit, Whiskerkit, Shinekit, Batkit, and Poolkit squeezed into the tunnel and met up again at the other side. They stayed quiet for a bit longer as they trekked through the forest. They finally stopped once the camp was out of sight, flopping down on the ground.

"I thought we were goners!" Shinekit admitted, letting out a long sigh. "It's a good thing we all have dark pelts! Well, all but Poolkit at least . . ."

Batkit panted out, relieved. "I do feel pretty bad about lying to her, though."

"But think about how happy and proud they will be when we come back with lots of information about WindClan!" Aspenkit exclaimed. The four other kits looked at her expectantly. "Look, I know it'll be hard, but if we pull it off, then ThunderClan could win the next battles! Everyone in the clan would look past the fact that we snuck out at night and went into another clan's territory and we'd be heroes! Blazestar might even reward us! Maybe we would be apprenticed early!"

By the end of her speech, all of the kits were up on their paws, kneading the ground in anticipation. "You're right!" Whiskerkit said. "It will _sooooo_ be worth it when we get apprenticed at two moons! What if he lets us choose our mentors?" He turned towards Poolkit. "Who would you pick?"

Poolkit's green eyes lit up in longing, wishing that it could be true, wanting to be able to pick her mentor. "If I got to pick, I'd pick Cardinaltail. He's one of the best fighters in the clan! I'd like to be able to fight as well as him."

"I don't know about you, but I'd pick Smokeleg," Batkit said. "He's the deputy, so he must know lots of fighting moves and hunting techniques!"

"I think Shadowpelt would be a great mentor!" Whiskerkit purred. "She's young, so she'd be good with battle practice."

Shinekit thought for a moment. "Flamepaw. When he's a warrior, I think he'd be great. I was talking to him today when we went to collect cobwebs and he seemed cool."

Aspenkit knew who she wanted immediately. "I'd definitely pick Pepperheart. He's nice but a good fighter. He'd be good at telling me if I'm doing a move or anything wrong." She shook herself when she looked up at the sky, realizing her mistake. The moon, though still high in the sky, was beginning to move back towards the horizon.

"You guys, we don't have time to stand around and talk about this! We can do it later, after we get back!" she exclaimed. The four others nodded in agreement. "Let's go, before dawn comes and we get caught!"

The five kits ran off in the opposite direction from camp, Aspenkit in the lead. She lifted her nose and opened her mouth slightly, scenting for what Glacierfire and Smokeleg told her WindClan smelled like. _What was it again?_ She inwardly questioned herself. _It smells like grass, heather, and wind . . . well obviously wind, it_ is _called_ Wind _Clan._

She took a long, drawn out inhale. Leaf mold, trees, squirrel; that was really all she could detect. She took another inhale, but didn't smell anything new.

A stab of fear went through her. What if they couldn't find the WindClan border? Then they'd be left to stumble around the forest alone until a ThunderClan patrol found them! Then they'd be in trouble, and it would be all her fault.

 _Come on, just try a little harder. Just smell!_ Aspenkit breathed, exhaling, then took in a huge breath of air. Trees, squirrel, mice, birds, undergrowth, and . . . just faintly . . . grass and heather! Coming from up ahead, to the left!

She yowled in achievement and victory, then changed their course, shifting slightly to the left. Trees passed by the kits as they ran at full speed through the forest, the shadows falling on their pelts and then back on the ground as the cats passed straight through them. They all focused on the path in front of them, not taking their eyes off of the underbrush and woods ahead.

The trees stretched on and on, but Aspenkit was finally able to make out the moorland up in front of them after running for what seemed like ages. They only had to sprint for a few more foxlengths before they burst out of the trees and out onto the grassy slopes.

Aspenkit, Whiskerkit, Shinekit, Poolkit, and Batkit stood where they were, panting, looking at the hills around them. A huge landscape of green, yellow, and orange grass spread out in front of them, stretching on into the heavens themselves. Up above, the sky was clearly seen, overcast and promising rain. Off to the right, a huge expansion of water sat, more water than Aspenkit thought existed in the whole world. Directly in front of her, a river flowed into the lake, separating ThunderClan and WindClan's territory. She squinted, looking at the horizon line, and was just barely able to see what had to be the gathering island and the barn on RiverClan's territory.

"So . . . ." Batkit prodded. "What now?"

Aspenkit narrowed her eyes in concentration. Obviously they would have to cross the river to get into WindClan's territory, but it looked like it was too deep for them to wade across. She padded up and down the river, finally stopping when she found a stretch of it far upstream that was shallow enough for their feet to touch the bottom.

The five kits got in, shivering at the cold water that licked at their paws. As they walked farther in, the water crawled farther up their legs, eventually reaching their belly fur. _It's for the clan,_ Aspenkit thought to herself as she walked in deeper, the water reaching almost to her shoulders, freezing her blood and making her teeth rattle. _It'll be worth it when we come back to ThunderClan with information that will help us win those battles._

The water finally started getting lower, subsiding back down their legs and eventually only covering their paws. All five cats jumped out of the river on the other side, shaking their fur out and shivering from the cold.

After a moment of huddling together and warming up, they sat back and scented the air.

"It smells like the camp is over that way," Whiskerkit mewed, pointing over to the left with his tail.

Poolkit shook her head. "It couldn't be. There's not enough of their territory left on that side. Besides, it would be way too close to the border for their camp to be here." She smiled. "Not even WindClan are dumb enough to have it there."

They all stuck their noses in the air again. "What about over there?" Batkit suggested, pointing towards a far off clump of hills to the right. "It's far enough away from both the ThunderClan and the RiverClan borders and those slopes around it would keep other cats from seeing the camp." He scented again. "And the wind is coming from that direction and it smells really strongly of cats."

The others nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that makes sense," Shinekit purred.

"Right, let's go then," Aspenkit meowed.

They set off towards the hills, keeping low, the grass and occasional bush being the only coverage and protection they had if they were spotted. A brutal wind swept across the moors, going directly through the kits as they ran on, chilling them beyond any cold they had ever known. But they kept going, running through the grasses and flowers of the moor.

They finally reached their destination, the hills, and found that Batkit had been correct. Snuggled in between the slopes was WindClan's camp, quiet and sleeping. The five kits gave little hops of excitement, but quieted down again when Aspenkit slapped her tail across her mouth, motioning for silence again. They had come this far; the journey would be pointless and it would be extremely humiliating if they were caught now just because someone talked a little too loudly.

As quietly as they possible could, the cats crept down the hillside, all thankful for their darker fur, except Poolkit, who was squished in the center of the five, the others' pelts hiding her lighter one.

They stopped when they reached the outer wall of the camp. Aspenkit thought for a moment on what to do next, then pointed with her tail at the cat guarding the camp. Or the cat who was _supposed_ to be guarding the camp. The light brown tom was fast asleep, out cold. The other kits nodded, eyes narrowed in amusement. Since the guard was asleep, they could go into the camp and no one would see them. The only problem was their ThunderClan scent . . .

Aspenkit looked around wildly, spotting a clump of heather a couple of foxlengths away. Running over to it, she jumped in and smothered her fur with the leaves, making sure to rub the scent of the heather on all of her fur, getting it in every nook and cranny. Whiskerkit, Shinekit, Poolkit, and Batkit watched her with blank expressions on their faces. Aspenkit stood up and motioned for them to do it too.

They looked at her, question and confusion written clearly on their faces. Aspenkit grunted in annoyance and whispered, barely loud enough for them to hear, "It'll disguise our scent so they won't smell us!" Their eyes lit up with understanding in unison. Aspenkit just rolled her eyes.

Once they had all rolled in the heather, they grouped up again by the camp wall. "Find out everything you can about anything important! The battle, any sicknesses, anything! Don't go into dens, just check around them," Aspenkit whispered, even quieter than before so that the others had to lean in. "Meet back here in five minutes!"

With that, they split up. Whiskerkit and Poolkit went towards the apprentices den and elders den, while Shinekit and Batkit went to the warriors den and the nursery. That left Aspenkit with the medicine cat den and the leader's den.

Sniffing around the outside of the medicine cat den, she caught sent of a familiar smell. Where did she know that from? Oh! Cobwebs! Scenting again, she could distinctively smell the sticky white webs, and the overpowering essence of it told Aspenkit that they had an ample amount of it.

 _So WindClan_ have _been preparing for a battle,_ _too._ She thought to herself, encouraged. _At least that confirms ThunderClan's suspicions._

She sniffed around the outside of the den again, and, finding nothing more, made her way over to the leader's den. Aspenkit looked up as a drop of water hit her nose, her stomach twisting when she saw that it was starting to rain.

Her head snapped around when she heard a scuffle over by the entrance to the camp. The guard was starting to wake up, the water by his paws causing his eyes to groggily begin to open.

Aspenkit let out a soft growl. Their mission would have to be cut short. Making eyes contact with the four other kits, she twitched her head to where they had agreed to meet, signaling to them it was time to go.

They met up on the outside of the wall in a matter of seconds. Right after they disappeared from the inside of the camp, a loud yawn rang out. Peeking through a crack in the wall, Aspenkit spotted the guard stretching and smacking his lips, blinking his eyes to get himself to wake up.

Almost immediately afterward, a dark brown tabby tom with a black tail pushed his way out of the warriors den, padding over to the light brown guard.

"Hey Lizardshine," the dark tabby greeted. "Any excitement while I was asleep?"

"Nope, but thanks for asking, Ropetail," Lizardshine answered, letting out another enormous yawn. "I think I fell asleep for a few minutes, though."

Ropetail smiled. "Don't we all?"

The two continued talking as Aspenkit nudged her head back up the hill towards ThunderClan. They crept up the hill, the dark clouds keeping the moon from shining on them and darkening the land so that they were kept hidden from the WindClan cats.

They were at the top of the hill when Shinekit's foot slipped on a rock, sending the stone plummeting into the camp, making various _clinks_ and _clacks_ on its way down.

The talking from below stopped. The five kits froze in their tracks, huddling to the ground and praying to StarClan that they weren't seen. They only thing heard was that of the rain pouring down on the ground, drenching any cat out in the open in a matter of seconds.

"What was that?" Lizardshine asked, the kits barely hearing him over the rain.

"I don't know . . ." Ropetail answered. The ThunderClan cats held their breath, hoping and begging that he didn't decide to check out what caused the noise. "Probably just a rabbit or something."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

The two chatty warriors continued their conversation, all thoughts on what sent the rock into the camp gone from their minds.

When Aspenkit was sure they were preoccupied with their discussion, she hurried the kits up the hill. Before she went over the hill herself, she heard Lizardshine say one last thing: "Hey, has our camp always smelled this strongly of heather?"

. . . . . . . . . . .

On the other side of the hill, the five kits bolted away from the WindClan camp, the rain coming down so thickly that they could barely see the foxlength of ground in front of their noses. Aspenkit looked up at the sky, not being able to see anything but the dark gray of the rain-heavy clouds. She pushed harder, running faster than she ever had.

They finally reached the river, which was tossing and turning from the storm, all of the extra rainwater causing it to overflow. The cats frantically ran upstream, looking for the shallow water area that they had used to cross, but all signs of it were gone.

"What now?!" Shinekit yelled, anything below that volume not audible over the _booms_ and _crackles_ of the thunder.

"I . . ." Aspenkit started, scraping her brain for any idea. The four other kits looked at her, eyes alight with fear and desperation. And something else . . . hope. They were looking to her for an answer, the way out of this situation. And she had to give it to them.

"Alright, here's what we do," she started, confident. "With this much breeze, there's bound to have been a tree somewhere that's fallen over the river. If we find one, then all we have to do is dig in our claws and cross it to the ThunderClan side of the border!" The others nodded, fear still shining brightly in their eyes, but the hope now more present than before. "Let's spread out! We'll find it faster that way."

The rain came down on the cats as they searched the river, blinking the water from their eyes, the lightning from the sky the only source of light they had. Aspenkit ran the length of the river, looking up and down for any tree or means of crossing. She was about to give up when she heard a small yell from upstream.

"I found one! Everyone, I found one!"

She ran in the direction of the voice, finding Poolkit standing next to a giant uprooted tree that was leaning across the river and onto both territories. Aspenkit nodded and turned back to go find the other kits, but ran back to Poolkit when she saw them all racing up the bank towards her.

"Okay, let's go!" Whiskerkit yelled.

Batkit got on, then Poolkit, Shinekit, Whiskerkit, and finally Aspenkit.

"Dig in your claws!" Batkit warned. "It's slippery!"

It was torture to have to move so slowly, the rain and river water rushing around them, but if they moved any faster then they could easily lose their grips and fall into the rushing torrent.

They had reached about halfway down the tree and Aspenkit was beginning to feel more confident when a particularly bright flash of lightning lit up the dawn sky. Aspenkit's let out a screech of fear, ears pressed to her head, heart stopping, at what she saw not twenty foxlengths away from her.

A giant wall of raging water came rushing at the kits, overflowing the banks and pushing over the nearby trees. The other kits shrieked in terror when they saw it, too, huddling on the tree, frozen in horror. Aspenkit told herself to go, told her legs to move, but she knew that in the end she wouldn't be able to outrun this thing. She let out another whimper of fear and pressed herself into the rough bark.

She let out a shrill scream to the four other cats huddled on the tree, wailing "I'm sorry!" as the furious wall of water overtook them, swallowing up any fleeting light from the world and filling their visions with the cold, malice filled color of black.

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **Cliffhanger! U gotta love 'em! AND THIS CHAP WAS 3422 WORDS! XD XD XD im proud of me! . . I no, I really should stop counting the wordcount…srry.**

 **If I don't get any reviews for this chapter, I'm going to be REALLY confused, bc I thought this was a great chap! XD Idk, whatevs. Anyways, this chap kind of starts off the exciting parts of the story, so don't worry, the boring parts are all done a** **nd another huge character will PROBABLY come in next chapter . . . only it'll be pretty obvious who it is and what its role is.**

 **OK so I have a question of the day thing (qotdt): should the next chapter be from the viewpoint of Smokeleg and what happens in thunderclan when they find out the kits are missing or the viewpoint of Aspenkit bc (spoiler alert) she obviously doesn't die?**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct and review! Hopefully I will update tomorrow! Byeeeee!**


	5. Absence Discovered

**Only one person reviewed last chapter and answered the question, so I'm going with what Wondershade suggested . . . But first review reply time! For the 1 person who reviewed! YASS!**

 **Btw, wondershade is SUPER cool for reviewing all of my chapters! LUV YA!**

Smokeleg blinked open his eyes, the thunderous world waking him up. He looked out of the entrance to the den and saw the world light up as a flash of lightning raced across the sky, illuminating the pouring rain that was turning the ThunderClan camp into a lake.

Smokeleg smiled to himself and tucked his head under his tail again, when a brilliant flash forced his head back up. An extremely bright flash of lightning shown above, an eardrum-shatteringly loud clap of thunder following immediately. Smokeleg shuddered; how horrible it would be to be caught out in this storm.

Awake now, Smokeleg stretched his tired limbs and stepped over the other napping warriors, taking care not to step on any of them on his way out.

Outside, he hurriedly ran over to the thorn tunnel where Sweetfang was guarding the camp, stepping under the small overhang for shelter.

"Hey, Sweetfang," he greeted, teeth chattering from the cold.

Sweetfang dipped her head to the deputy. "Hi, Smokeleg. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. This storm woke me up, though." He purred. "But I can't complain. It's nice to see it rain like this, especially since it almost never does." He peered out from under the thorns, staring out at the writhing storm, the rain forming patterns on the paw-high layer of water resting on the ground.

Sweetfang nodded. "It adds some excitement to having to stay up all night guarding the camp."

"How long has it been pouring like this?" the deputy asked.

Sweetfang shrugged. "I don't know, twenty minutes at least." She shivered and puffed out her fur, eyes weary from having to stay out in the cold for so long.

"You can go to your nest now," Smokeleg told her, calling over a light silver tom with a black underbelly who had just come out of the warriors den. "It's probably dawn by now and Pepperheart can take over for you."

Sweetfang nodded in relief, tiredly padding over to the warriors den and ducked inside. Smokeleg turned to Pepperheart. "It won't be that long until everyone else is awake."

Pepperheart nodded and meowed, "Its fine. I don't mind watching the camp, even if it is a bit cold."

Smokeleg smiled and sighed contentedly as he watched the rain. Glacierfire would probably be cold. He'd go check up on her and the kits before sorting out the patrols for the day.

He sprinted through the rain to the nursery and went into the bramble den. It took his eyes a moment to adjust in the dark room, and they rested on his mate when they finally did. His heart filled to the brim with love at the sight of her, and then immediately with dread. The kits were gone.

"Glacierfire!" he meowed frantically, not bothering to keep his voice quiet. "Glacierfire!"

The black and silver tabby jolted awake, looking around in confusion, one eye still closed. "Wha . . . ?"

"Glacierfire, where are the kits?" Smokeleg asked, eyes wide, fur on end in fear.

He heard Emeraldsong yawn. "What's going on—" she shrieked in terror, looking around her hectically. "Where are Poolkit and Batkit!?"

Glacierfire was finally fully awake, searching around her in the same distraught way as the other queen. "Where are Shinekit, Aspenkit, and Whiskerkit!?"

Smokeleg burst out of the nursery, yowling for Blazestar, no longer caring if his pelt got wet. The black and ginger leader stuck his head out of his den, eyes still foggy with sleep. "What is it, Smokeleg?" he asked sleepily, an enormous yawn erupting from his jaws.

"All of the kits are missing!"

He stopped mid-yawn, surprise alight in his now-awake eyes. He stood there, frozen, not believing what his deputy had just said. Fear and worry shot through him, making his stomach churn and writhe like the raging storm. After the fact sank in, he growled, "Wake everyone. Get search patrols ready. We WILL find those kits." His faithful deputy nodded once, then took off, yelling at the top of his lungs.

Blazestar payed no attention to the cats of his clan running around chaotically. His vision was set on one den and he headed straight towards it, not caring about anything but the cat inside.

He burst into the nursery, finding his mate frantically sniffing around the nests and sheathing and unsheathing her claws in worry. Emeraldsong turned to him as he entered, sorrow and fear brimming in her eyes.

"What do we do?" she asked, pressing herself up against him, fear radiating off of her.

"Smokeleg is setting up patrols now," he mewed, stroking his tail along his mate's back in an attempt to comfort her. It wasn't working. "Don't worry, we'll find them."

"But what if we don't?" she said, green eyes pleading as they stared into Blazestar's. It broke his heart to see her so shattered and scared.

"We will," he promised, trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince her. "Don't worry, we'll find them."

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **Shortest one yet, like 834 words. Meh**

 **At first, I actually wrote this one and the next chapter as the same chapter, but then I decided they work better as separate ones, so now u get 2 chaps in the time of 1! Yay!**

 **Oh and sorry, the really important character won't come in until the chap after next chap. I thot this chap was going be about asp, not thunderclan. My baaaaad. It'll probs b tomorrow when I upload it. Srry (XD**

 **QOTDT: should the kits' apprentice ceremonies be pushed back or not as punishment? if not, what should the punishment be or y should they not get any punishment?**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review!**


	6. The Desperate Search

**Here it is! Hope u like it!**

Smokeleg raced through the forest with his patrol of Shadowpelt, Toothshade, Rockpelt, and Skypaw following close behind him. The patrol was heading towards the lake, while three other patrols searched the other borders, Emeraldsong leading the ShadowClan one, Blazestar leading the WindClan one, and Glacierfire leading the patrol that searched the side of the territory that didn't border a clan.

"Look out for anything that suggests the kits went this way!" Smokeleg called back to the other cats, needing to yell to be heard over the booming thunder.

He lifted his nose to smell for the kits' scents, but the rain had washed the whole forest clean of any stenches. The deputy growled, all happy feelings towards the rain vanishing.

The patrol finally reached the lake, which had now grown, having had risen at least three foxlengths up the shore, covering practically all of the sandy ground.

"Spread out!" Smokeleg roared. "Search the whole shoreline!"

The longer he searched, the farther he fell into despair. Where were they? What would he do if they couldn't find them? _No,_ he thought. _Don't give up now. You can still find them!_

He bolted up and down the lake side, scenting and seeking, turning over every plank of wood or piece of lake grass he found. But as the storm raged on, his hopes began to diminish. They had been looking for what seemed like an eternity and nobody had found anything or anyone.

Smokeleg sank to the ground, sobbing. If all of the other patrols were having the kind of luck they had, then the kits were as good as—

"Smokeleg!" a faint voice called out. He looked to the left, standing as he saw a cat running towards him quickly. As the cat drew nearer, he recognized her as Shadowpelt, a black tabby she-cat with yellow eyes.

"Smokeleg, we've found Whiskerkit!" Smokeleg was so relieved he almost fell to the ground again. Instead, he nodded, racing back in the direction Shadowpelt had come from.

There Whiskerkit was, huddled on the ground, ten tail lengths from the river, the border for ThunderClan and WindClan, which had overflowed so much that it was now twice as high and twice as wide as before.

The deputy almost fainted when he saw his kit. His grey and white pelt was bedraggled and wet, a sodden, messy lump. Whiskerkit was shivering violently, eyes squeezed shut, ears pressed to his head in fear.

Toothshade was curled around him, trying to keep him warm. The white, ginger, and tortoiseshell she-cat backed away when she saw Smokeleg, letting him take her place.

Smokeleg licked the little kit's fur the wrong way, trying to warm him up. "Let's get you home, Whiskerkit," he purred, picking him up and padding back towards the ThunderClan camp.

. . . ….. . . .

Blazestar sniffed along the WindClan border, the rain coming down on his black and ginger pelt. Farther along, Saltytooth, Cardinaltail, Heatcloud, and Flamepaw searched as well, looking up and down for the lost kits.

Blazestar ran down the riverside, checking up with the other cats. "Anything yet, Heatcloud?"

The bright ginger tom shook his head, amber eyes filled with determination. "Not yet, but we'll find them." He went back to searching with his son, Flamepaw, who was sniffing at the branch of a tree that had fallen into the river, eyes narrowed.

"Wait, Blazestar," he meowed. "Doesn't this branch smell like Batkit to you?"

The leader bent his head over and smelled the tree. He immediately brightened. The scent was extremely faint, but it was definitely there. "Yes! Great job, Flamepaw!" The bright ginger tom with white paws brightened at his leader's praise, his father proudly smiling at him.

Blazestar checked with Cardinaltail and Saltytooth, who both reported nothing, but his spirits couldn't be brought down. The kits had come this way!

. . . ….. . . .

They had been searching so long that the storm had moved on. Blazestar was starting to lose hope again. He had sent Flamepaw to go and get the other patrols so that they could come and search at the WindClan border, but not much else had been found.

Blazestar searched next to Emeraldsong, neither of them wanting to give up even though they were starting to get desperate and lose hope. Smokeleg and Glacierfire were looking a little farther down from them, their faith beginning to dwindle, too.

The clan searched up until sunhigh, when their hunger finally got the best of them. It was decided that the cats could go for a hunt, but the search would be continued immediately afterwards.

"Blazestar," Smokeleg mewed, approaching him. "I agree we have to keep looking, but I think some of the cats should carry on with the other patrols. Just the mandatory ones, you know, the usual border and hunting patrols."

Blazestar nodded wearily. He would have liked for the whole clan to search, but there was reason behind his deputy's words. "Do what you must," he said. Smokeleg dipped his head and began assigning cats jobs, telling them whether they would be part of a search, hunting, or border patrol.

The cats dispersed, leaving Blazestar to sit alone by the river. He sighed, totally devoid of hope. He stared into the huge, flowing mass of water, wondering what in the world could have possessed the kits to try to cross it.

His stomach rumbled and he remembered how ravenous he was. He got up and walked into the woods. _Hmm, I'll try for a squirrel,_ he thought to himself as his gaze connected with the furry creature. It was picking up a nut at the base of one of the trees next to the river.

Quietly, Blazestar stalked his prey, stepping lightly. He was a tail length away from it when his back foot stepped on a frail twig, which snapped, alarming the squirrel. It shot up the trunk of the tree and onto a high branch, forgetting the cat below it, thinking it was safe from harm.

Blazestar growled, not giving up. He clawed his way up the tree stealthily, not wanting to alarm the squirrel again. He finally reached the high branch that the squirrel was on and snuck out onto it. The sudden weight shook the branch too much, though, and the squirrel jumped off of it and into another tree.

Blazestar hissed in anger, but his furious expression immediately turned to one of disbelief and amazement. Three branches above the one that the squirrel now clung to was the shivering form of Shinekit, unconscious. Blazestar gaped in amazement at the tiny silver cat, who was still drenched from the rain.

His hunger forgotten, Blazestar dropped to the forest floor and yowled for Smokeleg, Glacierfire, and Emeraldsong. It wasn't long before the three cats stood before him, panting, having run as fast as they could when they heard him call.

Blazestar smiled and purred excitedly. "I found Shinekit," he meowed, pointing to the tree with the tiny cat clinging to the branches. The others gasped in astonishment when they saw her, relieved beyond words. In a flash, Glacierfire was up the tree, retrieving her kit and soothing her with purrs and licks.

Smokeleg was still gaping by the time his mate got back, Shinekit hanging from her mouth. "How is that even possible?" he wondered aloud. "How could that have happened?"

Emeraldsong shook her head in disbelief. "I'm not sure, but that means that the other kits could be in the trees as well! We have to look!"

. . . ….. . . .

Soon, the rest of the clan was by the border, climbing trees and searching for the rest of the kits. Shortly after they found Shinekit, Batkit was found, clinging to a tree branch, mewling quietly and shuddering. Emeraldsong rushed to her kit, licking him and purring, comfortingly pressing him up next to her fur.

Sundown reached the forest too soon, only three out of the five kits being found. The clan trekked back to the camp, the parents of the missing kits worried sick, exhausted after the long day.

Smokeleg and Glacierfire huddled together in the nursery, Shinekit and Whiskerkit snuggled between them. The four cats had the whole den to themselves, Emeraldsong having had taken Batkit to Blazestar's den.

Glacierfire sighed as she laid down in the nest, her mate next to her. Smokeleg looked at the black and silver tabby, licking her fur gently.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "We'll find Aspenkit." He looked out through the nursery entrance and at the big, round moon that hung in the sky. He sighed and rested his head on Glacierfire's back. "Wherever she is."

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1451 words. How'd I do, wondershade? Was it ok? I hope so!**

 **QOTDT: should the kits confess that they crossed into windclan's territory to spy or not? If not, what should their reason (lie) for going to windclan be?**

 **Thnx for reading! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Byeeeee!**


	7. Waking Up

**Hey! Heres another chap!**

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit's body was tossed around in the freezing water, twigs and other underbrush writhing around her, poking the kit and ensnaring her. She opened her mouth to wail in fear and pain, but was only met with rushing water filling her jaws. She coughed in an attempt to clear her lungs of the water, but as soon as they were clear, more water took its place.

Aspenkit's head finally broke the surface of the river, the horrific storm still rampaging around her. The silver and black tabby kit gasped for air, but was only dragged down underneath the churning black water again. She held her breath, spinning and tumbling underwater, never knowing which way was which.

Aspenkit desperately flailed her limbs, trying to swim, to escape the sodden fur that was dragging her down. She pushed against the water as hard as she could with her paws, needing to be able to get to the clean, beautiful air above her.

All of a sudden, Aspenkit's body felt cool air and she was slammed up against something hard, driving all wind and water from her lungs. A rush of water spilled over her, but not enough to carry her body away.

Blinking her eyes open, Aspenkit realized the wave had brought her crashing down onto land, now far away from the river and its terrors.

Looking around, a seed of dread was planted in her stomach when she realized that she didn't know where she was. When she recognized her surroundings, the seed sprouted into an enormous tree.

The last thing she saw before she passed out was the sweeping plains of WindClan territory all around her.

. . . ….. . . .

"Who is she?"

"Eeeeewwwww, she smells like wet dog!"

"She's a cat, rabbitbrain, she can't smell like a dog! And how would you know what a wet dog smells like, anyways?"

"Duh, Hedgeleaf says they're the worst smelling things ever, other than badgers and foxes."

"But how do you know she smells like one of them?"

"I don't know, she just smells bad."

"You're one to talk."

"Hey! I don't smell as bad as you, foxbreath!"

"How about we ask her. Hey, thunder kitty! Who smells worse, me or—"

"Knock it off you two! That kit needs her sleep! Unless you feel like searching the elders for ticks again."

"Sorry mom."

"But can she at least tell us who smells worse?"

"No, you both smell horrible! Now leave her alone."

"Yes mom."

Aspenkit woke to the sound of two kits bickering. _Huh,_ she thought to herself. _They don't sound like Shinekit, Whiskerkit, Poolkit, or Batkit . . . ._

That's when reality crept in. Aspenkit remembered everything, the mission, the spying, the storm, the overflowed river.

 _But it was all a dream!_ she tried convincing herself. _If I wake up right now, I'll see Glacierfire and my littermates, curled up and happy! Just open your eyes!_

Opening one eye, she looked out at the world cautiously.

Immediately, a kit jumped in front of her, making her cringe in surprise. "Oh, Goldspark, she's awake! Now can she decide?"

Another small kit hurried over to her, gazing at her curiously. The first kit, the one who talked, was a green eyed golden tom with brown stripes and a brown tail. The golden fur on the top of his head and along his spine was spiked up, shooting off in every direction. The other kit was a blue eyed, grey and brown tabby tom with silver paws and ears.

Aspenkit looked between the two of them, confused and frightened beyond words. Where was she? Who were these cats?

A low growl came from behind her, and she whipped around. There stood a golden and silver tabby she-cat with narrowed blue eyes.

"Spikekit, Wolfkit, stop bothering this poor kit! You woke her up!" She turned to Aspenkit, her tone immediately changing, turning smooth and silky like honey. "I'm sorry these two woke you. Do you want to go back to sleep?"

Aspenkit shook her head silently; after waking to this, she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to bed again. "Where am I?" she squeaked out.

Goldspark purred. "You're in the WindClan camp. Our morning border patrol found you washed up in our territory. What's your name?"

Aspenkit swallowed, the intense gazes from the two other kits making her pelt burn. "Aspenkit."

Goldspark's eyes widened. "Smokeleg and Glacierfire's kit?"

The black and silver tabby kit nodded. "Have you seen Shinekit, Whiskerkit, Poolkit, or Batkit?"

Goldspark shook her head. "You're the only cat we found on our territory. Were there more of you in the river?"

Aspenkit nodded, her heart clenching and stomach churning. Where were the other kits? What had happened to them? Were they okay?

The grey and brown tabby kit looked at her and sniffed her up and down, his eyes reflecting curiosity and interest. "So you're from ThunderClan?" She nodded in response. "Cool! I'm Wolfkit."

"I'm Spikekit!" the golden kit with brown stripes said. "We have an important question for you: which one of us smells worse?"

Aspenkit blinked in surprise at the question. She knew they would eventually ask it, but she didn't think they would just come out and say it.

She carefully sniffed their pelts, wrinkling her nose at both of them, then eventually sat back. She flicked her tail at Spikekit. "Him," she mewed.

Spikekit's mouth fell open in amazement and disbelief. "What!?" he exclaimed.

Wolfkit jumped up, yelling, "Ahh, yes!" He sat back down again, purring, looking pleased with himself. "I told you that you couldn't say she smelled. You smell worse than a badger."

Spikekit growled, his lip pulled back so that his tiny, sharp teeth were revealed. "You take that back!"

Wolfkit stuck out his tongue. "Make me."

With a small yowl, Spikekit launched himself onto his brother, bowling him over and standing over him. "Who smells now?" he challenged.

"Still you!" Wolfkit gave a tremendous push and threw his brother off of him, who landed on a pile of moss in the corner. He climbed out of it, shaking scraps of the green stuff out of his spiked up fur.

He launched himself at Wolfkit again, but landed a mouse length too short. Wolfkit seized the opportunity, jumping onto his brothers back and pinning him to the ground.

"Surrender to me!" he hissed.

"Never!"

"Then eat my dirt!" With his final statement, Wolfpaw splayed his paws off to the side, slamming his body down into Spikekit, who squeaked out a mewl of surprise.

"Fine, fine, I give up! You win!" he managed to mumble, his muzzle pressed into the ground. "Now let me up!"

Wolfkit stepped backed, satisfied. They both froze when they heard Aspenkit purring in amusement at their play fight. They hadn't expected the ThunderClan kit to talk to them at all, forget about being friendly and easygoing. Exchanging baffled looks of surprise, they joined her in laughing and purring.

"That was great!" Aspenkit exclaimed. "The other kits and I would always do stuff like that back in ThunderClan!"

"I bet you couldn't beat me in a fight!" Wolfkit growled good-naturedly.

Aspenkit smirked. "Challenge accepted."

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1199 words! Kindof short but its more of an opening for the next few chapters!**

 **Important character in this chapter! Super easy to guess who it is though, and its role. But guess anyways! Leave it in a review and I'll reply and tell u if ur right!**

 **oh haha i forgot to do a qotdt. k here it is then**

 **QOTDT: is spikekit or wolfkit cuter? which do u think will ***spoiler alart*** end up being the love interest cat thingy?-u no what i mean! XD XD XD**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Thnx! Will try to update tomorrow**


	8. The Plot of WindClan

**OMG OMG OMG I GOT SOOOOOOOOO MANY REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER 7 (like a whole 5, well, 6 if u count the one from chap2…and I am!)! THNK U SOOOOOO MUCH TO ANYONE WHO REVIEWED! PLZ KEEP REVIEWING AND ANSWERING THE QOTDT's!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

Aspenkit tumbled out the nursery, the two WindClan kits close behind her. She took a big breath, savoring the fresh air and wind filling her lungs. It was two days after the big storm, and she had only been conscious for a few hours the day before, so this was, in a way, her first official day staying in the WindClan camp.

There wasn't much special about the camp; it was just a clearing in between the group of hills, random dens littered around it and a big, tall rock in the center of it all. The whole place had a wet glazing over it, the rainstorm bringing along soggy dens and dreary warriors with it. The WindClan warriors trudged around begrudgingly, muttering about all of the repairs they would have to work on and the hunting patrols they _wished_ they could be on. Apparently, they didn't appreciate the rain in the way that the ThunderClan cats did. Then again, the forest cats' whole territory wasn't sodden and moist because of it.

 _I guess it makes sense for these warriors to complain, then,_ Aspenkit thought. _They have it the worst of all the clans._

Her thoughts were interrupted as a tiny bundle of grey and brown fur rocketed into her, making her yowl in surprise. The cat staring down at her snarled evilly. "Stay out of our camp, you ThunderClan scum!"

Aspenkit narrowed her eyes. "Then you keep away from our prey, you rabbit chaser!"

Aspenkit jumped on Wolfkit, sending the two rolling across the clearing. Several warriors scurried out of the way of the fighting kits, narrowly missing colliding with the flailing arms and tails of the quarreling cats.

Wolfkit finally ended up on top, holding the smaller kit down, his tiny paws placed on her neck and shoulders. "Any last words?" he asked, blue eyes staring down triumphantly into her blue-green ones.

Aspenkit sighed in mock defeat, going limp under his paws. "No . . . ."

Wolfkit yowled victoriously, but it was cut short as Aspenkit surged upwards, sending the tom flying across the clearing. He crashed to the ground, stunned.

The kit got to his feet, shaking his head to clear away the dust in his fur. Wolfkit let out a low growl as the two started circling each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

Right as Wolfkit leaped forward, Aspenkit was lifted from the ground, squeaking in surprise. She looked up to see a tortoiseshell tom holding her up by her scruff, his green eyes staring down at her.

"Branchtail!" Wolfkit exclaimed, disappointment clear in his voice. "We were play fighting!"

"I could see that," the cat responded in a deep voice. "However, I need to check on Aspenkit and make sure that she's okay. Once I'm done, you two can resume your fighting."

Wolfkit opened his mouth to argue, but Branchtail walked away before the kit had the chance to say anything. Aspenkit looked back and saw the little tom huff in anger, then stomp away, into the nursery.

Branchtail carried her into a den that smelled strongly of herbs and plants. Aspenkit wrinkled her nose at the smell; she didn't know how medicine cats could bear the stench all day. If Aspenkit had to be around those countless plants and their various fumes for more than a few minutes, she had no doubt in her mind that she would puke.

Branchtail set her down on a soft pile of moss, then began parting her fur in various places, sniffing her all the while. The medicine cat eventually sat back, nodding to himself.

Aspenkit frowned in confusion. "What was that abou—"

The tortoiseshell cat cut her off. "Open your mouth as wide as you can."

Aspenkit did as he said, still confused. Branchtail peered down her throat, looking at it from different angles, narrowing his eyes in concentration.

While he was busy doing his weird medicine cat stuff, Aspenkit decided to look around the den. Her eyes instantly flicked to the huge pile of cobwebs, bigger than the freshkill pile back in ThunderClan.

 _Yes!_ she thought, pleased with herself. _I knew they had a surplus of cobwebs! Well, unless that's how much WindClan always has in its storage . . . ._ Aspenkit was sure it wasn't.

A million questions for the WindClan medicine cat buzzed around in her head, like bees in their hive, but she didn't dare talk until he was done with his "examination." She didn't have to wait long.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with you," he meowed. "It seems like all that happened was you swallowed a bunch of water. There's no harm in that, so you're free to go."

Aspenkit had to ask. "Why do you have so many cobwebs?"

Branchtail shrugged. "It's nice to always have extra in case of any random battles that we're not expecting." Yet Aspenkit didn't miss the flash of wariness shining in his eyes. There was definitely more to it than that.

"What about any battle that you _are_ expecting?" the black and silver tabby kit pressed.

Branchtail shot her a look that told her the conversation was over.

Aspenkit sighed, knowing there was no way that the enemy medicine cat would tell her any more than he already had. She nodded, then bounded out of the smelly den and out into the damp world.

As she leaped across the clearing towards the nursery, the little ThunderClan kit didn't notice the hostile glances thrown her way. Many glinting pairs of narrowed eyes followed her, untrusting and angry. What was this kit doing here? Had ThunderClan set this up? What if this kit was here to spy on them? Growls were heard around the clearing, all thrown at the unknowing and oblivious kit.

Aspenkit happily ran through the nursery entrance, finding Wolfkit and Spikekit sitting around waiting for her. Spikekit immediately sat up as she walked in. "Where were you?"

Aspenkit sat down, flicking her ears nonchalantly. "In the medicine cat's den." She screwed up her face and stuck out her tongue. "That place smells horrible!"

"Tell me about it!" Spikekit mewed, rolling his eyes in disgust. "The first time we went in there, we ate these leaves that tasted like mouse bile! They made us both throw up for the rest of the day!"

Wolfkit looked at him and frowned. "How do you know what mouse bile tastes like?"

Spikekit groaned. "Not this again!"

Aspenkit purred in amusement. "So how about finishing that fight?"

Wolf kit nodded, eyes glinting smugly. "Sure. I was just about to win anyways."

Aspenkit snarled. "You're kidding, right? If Branchtail hadn't come and taken me, you would've been dead in seconds."

"Oh, you are _so_ on," Wolfkit growled, getting down into a battle crouch.

Before either could pounce, though, a yowl called out loudly from the middle of the clearing. "Let all cats old enough to chase rabbits gather beneath the Tallrock to hear my words!"

Aspenkit looked at the other two kits in confusion. Spikekit explained while the three cats padded outside, sitting next to the nursery. "That's Thornstar, the leader of WindClan. That's what he says when he wants the clan to gather."

Aspenkit looked up at the "Tallrock" to see a strong but lithe brown tabby tom with amber eyes staring down at the clan as it gathered. Once all of the cats were there, splayed out below him, he talked again, his booming voice carrying throughout the camp.

"As you all know by now, we have had a special visitor here with us for the past couple of days." At his words, every cat turned to look at Aspenkit simultaneously, their stares making her pelt heat up. She shrank back, wishing she could turn around and run from the awkward glares thrown at her.

It seemed like forever before the clan leader continued his speech. "Goldspark has confirmed our prior thoughts, saying that she is, indeed, from ThunderClan, being one of Smokeleg and Glacierfire's kits." Aspenkit brightened slightly at the mention of her parents. "The only problem is that the river is still too swollen for us to give her back to them. I would like to send a patrol to inform their next border patrol that we have Aspenkit."" He looked down at a light brown she-cat with darker markings sitting at the foot of the rock. "Will you set it up, Willowbreath?"

The she-cat, unmistakably the deputy, nodded her head and began to stand up, when a new voice was heard, yelling from the back of the crowd of cats. "What, we're just going to _give_ her back to them?"

Aspenkit turned to see the cat who had spoken, a small, dark cream tom with a brown tail. His eyes shone in anger, his tail lashing from side to side.

"Yes, Nettlepaw," Thornstar growled from his perch. "What else would we do?"

"Keep her hostage!" the cat exclaimed. His idea was met with shocked gasps from the crowd of on looking warriors.

"Think about it!" Nettlepaw continued, standing up now. "If we keep her here, then we could tell ThunderClan that we would only give her back if they gave us something in return."

"But what would we ask for?" a voice from the crowd asked.

"More land," the apprentice replied, not even blinking. "Then they get what they want, we get what we want."

Aspenkit's face was petrified. She was filled with horror at the thought of being kept a prisoner, an item of trade for her home clan. She looked around at the WindClan warriors surrounding her, thinking that no one could possible agree with such an inhumane thought, but was filled with even more terror at what she saw. Most of them were nodding in agreement at the proclamation, some yowling and growling their support for Nettlepaw's idea.

Aspenkit looked up at Thornstar; surely there was no way that he could agree with the foolish apprentice! The tabby leader was staring down at his deputy, uneasiness and uncertainty clear in his gaze. His eyes narrowed for a moment before he yelled for silence. The WindClan cats quieted their shrieks at once, staring up at their leader.

Thornstar pondered the request, thinking it over in his mind. After a moment, he began to nod. "I agree."

Aspenkit's heart fell at his words, dread filling her up completely. Victorious yowls rang around the camp, but Thornstar raised his tail for silence once more. "But if they refuse to give us land, what do we do?" he questioned the apprentice.

"They won't refuse," the cream and brown tom chuckled. "Not if we say we'll hurt her if they don't give us what we want. We won't _actually_ hurt her," he added before anyone could hiss in opposition. "But they wouldn't know it. They would never take the chance at their precious kit's safely just for a piece of their territory."

All eyes turned to the cat on the Tallrock, whose head was tilted in consideration. His face slowly turned into a dark smile as he thought about the plan more and more.

"Fine," he growled. "We'll do it." Aspenkit fell to the ground, her brain barely registering what was happening. "Willowbreath, organize the patrol to go to the ThunderClan border. Tell them if they refuse, we hurt her." He jumped down from the rock, hissing one more thing before the meeting broke up. "WindClan gets what we want, and we don't take 'no' for an answer."

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1920 words! Yass!**

 **Sorry if it seemed a bit rushed, im at my gramma's house right now and she doesn't know her wifi password so I have to do it on her computer…..anyways! the next few chapters (obviously) will take place in WindClan, other than possibly next chapter; it depends on the answer to the QOTDT for today . . . . here it is!**

 **QOTDT: should the next chapter be about ThunderClan and the patrol when they find out about Aspenkit and WindClan's trade idea thing or should it be about Aspenkit in WindClan?** ** _IF U WANT THE ASPENKIT IN WINDCLAN IDEA, THEN WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN THE CAMP DURING THE CHAPTER_** **(im kinda out of ideas for that part so yea XD)?!**

 **Thnx for reading! Will try to update again tomorrow! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review!**


	9. Attempted Escape

**_HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE SHOUTOUT TO MyDearNewt FOR REVIEWING ALL OF THE CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY! U ROCK! XD XD XD_**

 **Omg like SOOOO many reviews again! XD XD XD XD! See people, this is what makes me happy! To all who reviewed, this chapter is actually both in thunderclan and in windclan. The parts are both short enough to be put together in one chapter. Enjoy!**

. . . ….. . . .

"Dapplefoot, you lead a patrol on the ShadowClan border. Take Fangpaw, Heatcloud, and Cardinaltail with you." The cats Smokeleg listed off nodded and padded out of ThunderClan. "Rockpelt, Skypaw, Shadowpelt, and Sweetfang: you four go on a hunting patrol over by the lake."

It was the day after they had found the three kits, two in a tree, one on the beach. It was surprising that the three kits had recovered so quickly; they were already up and about, bouncing around the camp in happiness and excitement as usual.

Of course, there was a sad haze over the whole camp. Even the kits' normal scampering about was slowed, Whiskerkit, Shinekit, and Batkit all missing their sisters. Though it was only the day after they had searched from dawn to dusk for the kits, the whole of ThunderClan had lost hope of finding the other two. The parents of the kits hadn't lost hope, of course, but they were still exhausted from the day before and were taking a break from their nonstop searching.

"Saltytooth, Toothshade, Geckostripe. I assume you'll need to take Flamepaw, Rufflepaw, and Wonderpaw out for their final assessments?" Smokeleg asked. The three cats nodded. "Okay, fine, you guys go and do that. And good luck!" he called out to the three apprentices as their rumps disappeared inside of the thorn tunnel.

Smokeleg turned to the only cats left in front of him, Shimmersoar and Pepperheart. "You two will come with me on the border patrol for WindClan." He turned to the nursery, seeing Glacierfire and Emeraldsong lying outside of it, both of their eyes glazed over in sadness for their lost kits. "You two want to come with?"

Glacierfire sighed. "I suppose so. Sitting around here isn't going to help me find those kits . . . or at least take my mind off of them." She turned to Emeraldsong. "How about you?" Emeraldsong kept on staring off into space, eyes trained on nothing at all. She slowly starting shaking her head, tail flicking slightly.

The group of four was about to set off when Blazestar stepped out of his den. "Where are you guys off to?"

"WindClan border," Smokeleg called back. "You up for it?"

Blazestar stretched, pushing out each limb as he did so. "Hmmmmm . . . sure, why not. I could look for Poolkit and Aspenkit on the way."

The five cats ran out of camp, leaving the wet ThunderClan dens behind. Smokeleg sighed as he raced underneath the dripping trees, not sure if it was out of melancholy or contentment.

They broke out of the woods and out next to the huge river, which had gone down only slightly from the previous day. They began making their way along the riverside, marking the borders as well as sniffing the ground and searching the trees for the lost kits. No one had bothered asking the kits how exactly they had gotten into the trees yet; everyone was still too worried about Poolkit and Aspenkit.

The patrol had made their way down the entire riverside and were turning to head back into the trees when a yowl from the other side of the water halted them in their tracks.

In WindClan territory, a patrol of four cats were running full pelt at the ThunderClan patrol, their tails streaming out behind them. As they got closer, Smokeleg recognized the cats as Ropetail, Owlsoar, Brownclaw, and his apprentice, Nettlepaw. The ThunderClan patrol waited patiently until the WindClan cats finally walked up to them.

"Blazestar, Smokeleg," a dark brown tabby with a black tail called Ropetail greeted coolly. "It's nice to see you."

"I wish I could say the same," Blazestar growled menacingly back. "What do you want?"

Ropetail stared back, mock hurt plastered on his face. "Does there have to be a reason for me to say hi to my favorite clan leader?" The ThunderClan cats' hackles raised, their fur standing on end. The WindClan cats just stared back smugly, knowing that their enemies couldn't get to them because of the wide expanse of water separating them.

"Actually, though," Ropetail continued, tapping his chin with his long black tail. "There was one thing that we had to tell you. But what was is . . . it's on the tip of my tongue . . . oh, right, I remember!" he exclaimed, eyes flashing with fake recollection. "We have your precious kit, Aspenkit."

Smokeleg's jaws dropped in overwhelming, dumbfounding surprise, while Glacierfire slumped to the ground and let out a long sigh of relief. "You do?" Blazestar asked cautiously, talking for the stunned parents.

The WindClan patrol nodded, eyes gleaming, the cats barely being able to hold back their excitement for the next words they would say to the ThunderClan cats.

"What about Poolkit?" Blazestar asked hurriedly. "Do you have Poolkit?"

Ropetail blinked in surprise. "N-no?" he meowed, the answer coming out as more of a question than a statement. Blazestar growled angrily, lashing his tail back and forth, worry and desperation for the last missing kit shining in his eyes.

"So when can we get Aspenkit back?" Smokeleg questioned.

Ropetail exchanged malicious, knowing glances with his clanmates before answering. "After discussing it with the clan," the dark tabby started, "we have decided that we are willing to give you back your beloved Aspenkit if you give us something that _we_ want."

"WHAT?!" Smokeleg exploded, fury radiating off of him, his fur puffed out to make him look five times his size.

"You can't DO that!" Glacierfire shrieked at the self-satisfied WindClan cats, who sat calmly on their side of the border, tails neatly wrapped around their paws.

"Oh yes we can," Nettlepaw purred at the hissing and spitting ThunderClan cats. "All that we're asking for in return is some more land."

Blazestar snarled violently, enraged. "We'll never give you thieves any of our territory."

"That's really too bad," Nettlepaw sighed dramatically, examining his claws. "It'd be a shame if a certain ThunderClan kit was to, I don't know, get hurt if you were to refuse. Wouldn't you agree, Ropetail?"

Ropetail nodded, making a pouty face at the bewildered ThunderClan cats. "Poor little Aspenkit. If only there was a way to keep her from harm."

Glacierfire's eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't dare hurt a poor, defenseless kit!" She pressed up against Smokeleg, inwardly begging that what the moor cats were saying was a lie. "She's just over a moon old!"

"Are you willing to take the risk that we're kidding?" Owlsoar, a dark grey and brown tabby she-cat growled. "As long as she's in our camp, she's our property. And she'll stay our property until you squirrel munchers give us what we want."

The WindClan patrol turned around and ran back into their territory, but not before Ropetail could spit one last thing at the shocked ThunderClan cats. "Aspenkit may have survived the rainstorm and this flooded river, but she's not invincible. Her time is running out."

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit sighed, resting her head on her paws. It was day one of her "captivity." She was sitting alone in the nursery, curled up in her own little nest of moss and bracken. The black and silver tabby kit had been confined to the nursery, only being able to leave it when she needed to make dirt.

The ThunderClan border patrol had just gotten back from delivering the news of her imprisonment to her home clan. She could only imagine how distraught her parents were, not to mention the other kits.

 _Oh, the other kits!_ She thought to herself, her head snapping up when she remembered. _I hope they're all okay after the river overflowing!_

Her head sunk to her paws again, Aspenkit feeling even worse than ever. How could she have forgotten about them? She sighed, depressed.

She looked out of the nursery entrance to see the sun slowly setting on the horizon. The other kits would be back soon, along with Goldspark.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Wolfkit and Spikekit came walking in, their usual happy bounds missing from the scene.

"Hey," Aspenkit greeted half-heartedly.

"Hi," Wolfkit mewed. "You okay?"

"What kind of question is that?" Aspenkit snapped, slight amusement in her voice. "I'm stuck in this den until my clan agrees to trade me for land! How do you think I'm doing?"

Spikekit forced a smile. "Not good, then."

Aspenkit nodded. "I just want to go home," she muttered, looking out of the entrance to the den longingly.

They sat there quietly for a few moments, wallowing in their own sadness, when Wolfkit's face screwed up in anger. "No!" he exclaimed.

Aspenkit frowned in confusion. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I mean WindClan doesn't have the right to keep you here!" he growled, pacing back and forth. "You should be back in you clan with your littermates, not here, stuck in some stuffy little den!"

"Well, yeah," Aspenkit mewed. "But what other option is there for me right now?"

Wolfkit's eyes narrowed as he thought. "I know! We'll break you out of here!"

Spikekit nodded excitedly, tail whipping back and forth. "Yeah, we'll help you escape!"

Aspenkit didn't let her hopes rise. "But how? Everyone will be on full alert for me, making sure I don't leave. There's no way I can sneak out without them seeing me first."

Wolfkit put on his best evil smile, which was still pretty adorable. "Don't worry. I've got a plan!"

. . . ….. . . .

The moon shone down on the still-wet WindClan camp. Three kits huddled in the corner of the nursery, conversing quietly while a golden and silver queen slept in her nest.

"Okay, are you ready, Spikekit?" Wolfkit asked the brown and gold tom. The kit nodded determinedly, the spiked up fur on his head bobbing at the movement.

The three kits crept to the opening of the nursery, moving as quietly as they possibly could. Once they were there, Wolfkit and Aspenkit stopped, looking out as Spikekit continued to walk outside and into the soggy clearing. He made his way over to the dirtplace tunnel, but right before he went into it, he intentionally tripped over his paws, letting out a faint mewl of pain as his muzzle slammed into the ground.

The cat who was keeping guard, a light brown tabby she-cat named Strawpelt, ran over to the supposedly injured kit, checking up on him and making sure he wasn't hurt.

Seeing that the entrance to the camp was unguarded, Wolfkit and Aspenkit sprinted out of the nursery and through the entryway, not looking behind them as they flew out onto the moors, the moonlight shining down onto the two kits.

Aspenkit finally looked back at the camp, which looked as small as a pebble, far below them. She let out an astonished purr, surprised that their plan had worked so flawlessly.

"Wow," she mewed. "I did _not_ expect that to work so well."

"Neither did I," Wolfkit admitted.

They started walking away from the camp and towards the ThunderClan border. Aspenkit purred as she watched Wolfkit gaze around him, eyes wide in amazement.

He jumped when Aspenkit talked. "Why are you looking around you like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like this." Aspenkit stopped in her tracks, widening her eyes and overdramatically staring at every little thing that she saw.

Wolfpaw watched patiently, eyes narrowed in amusement. "This is the first time I've ever been outside of the camp," he explained. "I've never seen the moor before."

Aspenkit nodded, understanding. She remembered how she had acted not a few days beforehand when she had left the ThunderClan camp for the first time to collect cobwebs with her littermates.

"I've never seen the stars in this way before," Wolfkit whispered suddenly, looking up.

Aspenkit followed his gaze, gasping when she saw the thousands of stars spread out above her head, too many to count. They twinkled beautifully in the sky, every single one different and wonderful. They shone down onto WindClan territory, adding their faint rays of light to the moon's.

"Wow," Aspenkit sighed happily, moved. "They're beautiful."

Wolfkit nodded silently, looking behind him, back at the WindClan camp. "We'd better go, before they notice that we're gone.

Aspenkit agreed, sadly dragging her gaze from the stars and back to the boring world around her.

They padded on, walking towards the ThunderClan border, eventually reaching it as the moon began to dip towards the horizon. They hadn't thought about the overflowed river, though, when they had made their plans for escape. It was still enormous, way too big for any cat, even a RiverClan cat, to cross, forget a moon old kit.

Aspenkit sighed. "Well, it was worth a try," she meowed sadly.

Wolfkit sat next to her, not sure whether or not he should rub his pelt comfortingly up against hers. He decided against it. "I'm sorry."

Aspenkit shrugged lazily. "It's not your fault. Besides, we made it all the way here. That's a pretty big deal, right?"

Wolfkit smiled slightly. "I guess so."

"And it's not like I'm actually going to get hurt here anyways," she reasoned. "I just can't leave the nursery. It won't be so bad."

"Spikekit and I will stay with you the whole time," Wolfkit meowed. Aspenkit smiled thankfully at him.

The two kits settled down in the long grass, silently looking back up at the stars as they waited for a WindClan patrol to come and take them back to the camp. When one finally did come, and as Aspenkit was picked up by one of the warriors, she couldn't help but look back sadly into the woods, the place she called her home, and sighing as she was carried farther and farther away from it yet again.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2299 words! . . . wow, I really have a problem with ending stories with ..99-I'll work on it XD**

 **Sorry if the breaking out part was a bit rushed, I couldn't really think of anything else to say. Meh.**

 **Anyways, thnx for reading this chapter! Unfortunately, school starts again for me tomorrow DX( so I probably won't be able to update every day, but I will DEFINITELY try to.**

 ** _THIS IS IMPORTANT READ THIS PLEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASE_** ** _!_** **\- ok, so I wrote a story last quarter in school, its basically about a kid who goes insane. If u guys want, I can add it to the end of a chapter just because-it obviously wont have anything to do with the story, but it'll just be there in case u guys feel like reading it. . . . I think it's pretty interesting. Tell me in a review if u want me to leave it!**

 **QOTDT: who is your favorite character in the story so far? IT CAN BE ANYONE! XD XD XD**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review!**


	10. The Rage of Thornstar

**Heeeeeyyyyyyyy! Heres another chap! This one is a bit darker/more messed up than the ones before it! Get excited, yo!**

. . . ….. . . .

Thornstar growled as he watched the patrol stalk into camp, the two kits hanging from Lizardshine and Beeflight's jaws. His glowing amber eyes followed them from his perch on the Tallrock as the kits were taken into the nursery and tossed inside. Not a moment later, Goldspark came out of the den, bristling in confusion. Thornstar saw her yelling at Beeflight, clearly outraged and puzzled at Wolfkit and Aspenkit's sudden disappearance and reappearance after being missing for almost the whole night. Beeflight was obviously unknowing, too, but after a few minutes of soothing, or at least attempting to sooth, the distressed queen, Goldspark lashed her tail a final time and ran back into the nursery.

Thornstar narrowed his eyes at the den where the enemy kit had gone into moments before. She had almost escaped; if they weren't careful, then she would leave again when the river was down more, and she could actually have a chance at going back to ThunderClan. They couldn't let that happen. She was their only definite way to gain more territory. Without her, none of their plans would work; she was a crucial part of them all.

Sure, the land they wanted—no, needed—was ThunderClan territory and only really consisted of trees and brush, but the WindClan warriors could adjust. All that really mattered was that they got more of it. And Thornstar didn't care what he had to do to reach that goal.

He settled himself more comfortably on the Tallrock. While he wished he could truly believe it wasn't so, he knew that ThunderClan weren't idiots. Sure, they stupidly crossed the border some days, but they comprehended more than they let on.

That meant that after thinking about it, they may come to terms with the idea that WindClan were bluffing when they said they would hurt their moon-old kit. If, or when, they eventually reached that conclusion, then they would refuse to hand over any of their precious land, even if it meant that Aspenkit stayed in the WindClan camp for a longer amount of time.

Thornstar snarled angrily. _I knew there was a flaw to this plan. But how to foolproof it?_

They couldn't actually harm the kit; both ThunderClan and WindClan would be furious if they found out that he had laid even a claw on the kit.

A vile idea popped into his head. He went over the last thought in his mind, a wicked smile creeping onto his face as his corrupt mind devised a plan just as horrible.

 _WindClan_ would _be furious if they found out . . . ._ The WindClan leader chuckled darkly as he jumped down from the Tallrock and prowled into his den, which was devoid of any sunlight. _Then I guess I'll have to make sure that they don't._

. . . ….. . . .

"Can I go outside _now_?" Aspenkit begged the cat lying outside of the nursery. Ever since she and Wolfkit had gotten back from their attempted escape, Thornstar had made sure to keep a guard posted at the nursery night and day so that she couldn't even think about leaving again. It was a few days later and she had only been able to leave the den when she needed to visit the dirtplace, and no other time.

"For the fifth time, no!" the cat outside groaned. "Dumb ThunderClan kit! Thornstar has ordered that you be kept in the nursery, no exceptions."

Aspenkit huffed angrily as she plopped down on her rump. She had been in the WindClan camp for at least a quarter moon by now, and she was really missing her home clan. Being in the WindClan camp had started out as fun, but now it was just the prison that she belonged to.

Wolfkit and Spikekit's haunches appeared in the den entrance as they dragged a hare, rear ends first, into the nursery. They stopped, panting, in front of Aspenkit as they laid the fresh kill front of her, which was easily as big as the two of them combined.

"We caught you some fresh kill!" Spikekit meowed cheerily.

Aspenkit looked at the hare, then back up at the golden and brown tom. "If you caught this, then I'm a twoleg," she purred, her mood slightly brightening at the sight of her friends. "Thanks for bringing it to me, though! I'm starving!"

Aspenkit was bending down to take a ravished bight out of the prey when the guard at the nursery entrance interrupted her. "Aspenkit, Thornstar is requesting your presence immediately," he growled, as if even talking to the kit was an inferior task.

Aspenkit exchanged worried glances with Spikekit and Wolfkit before padding warily out of the den. The guard watched her closely as he escorted her the four foxlengths to the WindClan leader's den, then waited outside as Thornstar called her inside.

Aspenkit sat down on the outer part of the den, looking everywhere around the inside of the black-as-night room, not sure where the tabby cat lay in wait.

"Come into the middle of the den, cat," a voice boomed, quiet but loud at the same time. Aspenkit jumped at the sound of it, caught off guard at the sudden noise. She crept forward, staying low to the ground, not wanting to do anything more than cuddle up in her soft nest. That wasn't an option now.

"How are you?" the voice asked, the rough demeanor of it still present.

Aspenkit blinked in surprise at the question nonetheless. How was she?

 _I'm doing just peachy, thanks for asking,_ she thought bitterly, barely being able to hold back a snarl. _I just_ love _being held prisoner against my will in an enemy's territory. Who doesn't?_

But all she said was, "Okay, I guess."

Silence. Aspenkit looked around nervously, eyes wide, body flattened to the ground, her ears pressed to her head in fear. Where was Thornstar? Why wasn't he—

Out of nowhere, a furry body slammed into Aspenkit, sending her smashing into the den wall, squeaking in pain as she fell to the ground. She staggered to her paws, her shoulder throbbing painfully where it had collided with the den, trying to find the brown tabby in the darkness. She began to shiver in fear, cowering up against the wall, wishing she could run straight through it and back into the clearing of the camp.

"That's it?" The voice snarled, echoing around the den, Aspenkit's head snapping around in her wild search to pinpoint the source of it. "You're only 'okay'?" The ThunderClan kit heard the WindClan leader huff in mock disappointment, only being able to imagine the pathetic pout he had plastered on his face. "But I want you to enjoy your time here in the WindClan camp!"

Aspenkit felt his hot breath on her ears and whipped around, only to see nothing new and to feel cold air where Thornstar had been a second ago.

"After all," the taunting voice snarled. "You'll only be here for a short while longer. . ."

Aspenkit yowled in surprise and pain as thorn sharp claws dug into her fluffy pelt, lifting her high into the air, at least three tail lengths above the ground, before releasing her. She twisted in midair in an attempt to land on her feet, but didn't have enough time. Her chest slammed into the ground, driving the breath from her shaken body.

" . . . one way or another," Thornstar finished his previous statement with a growl.

Aspenkit shakily got to her feet again. "Wha-what do you want?" she screamed at the WindClan leader.

The ThunderClan kit was smashed to the ground yet again, but this time, the brown tabby leader held the little cat down, his rancid breath blowing in Aspenkit's face, forcing her to breathe in the horrible stench. His narrowed amber eyes stared into her blue-green ones murderously, alit with the heart pounding action of an unevenly matched fight.

"What I want," he hissed, "is something that _you_ can't give to me, but something that you'll help me get." His claw sank into her shoulders more and more as he went on, getting madder and madder as he went on. "All that I want is more territory for my clan, for WindClan to be the strongest of all of the clans. The more land we take, the more battles we win, the more feared we become." His eyes narrowed to slits in rage. "The previous leaders of WindClan have made us look weak, what with their willingness to help other clans and to accept their pathetic offers." He smiled maliciously down at the kit ensnared in his claws. "You'll help this clan wipe out that image. After ThunderClan gives us more territory, we'll refuse to give you back until they give us something else that we want, and we'll keep refusing until we're satisfied. By the time that we give you back to your home clan," he finished, chuckling insanely, "there'll hardly be any of it left."

He let go of the tiny kit, who stumbled away from the WindClan leader and pressed herself up against the wall. "You-you're crazy!" she stammered, too frightened to even attempt to come off as sounding strong.

Thornstar smiled again, eyes glinting coldly. "Maybe so, but it's the insane that run the world."

He flicked his tail to the entrance. "You can go," he meowed.

Aspenkit turned to run away, but Thornstar's tail flicked out and blocked her path before she could go far. "One more thing," he hissed, raking his claws down her pelt, pulling out tufts of her black and silver tabby fur. She stifled a yelp of pain, trying to hold on to any dignity that she had left. She looked up into the leader's eyes once more, hearing his last words to her before she ran out into the WindClan clearing. "If you tell anyone about this, then I can assure you that you won't survive next time."

. . . ….. . . .

Thornstar breathed in deeply as he lay on the grass next to the ThunderClan border, Aspenkit's fur still stuck in between his sheathing and unsheathing claws. A strong breeze ruffled his fur as he sat, contentedly thinking to himself.

 _Soon,_ he thought happily. _Soon, WindClan will be the most feared, most respected clan of all._

He sniffed angrily at the fur in his claws. Stupid ThunderClan, always trying to keep peace. Didn't they know that war was inevitable? Their tacky ways of peace were nothing in comparison to the powerful jaws of war.

Aspenkit's fur suddenly floated away on a particularly strong rush of wind. Thornstar watched it emotionlessly as it drifted away on the breeze and came to a rest on the ThunderClan side of the border.

Thornstar smiled unpleasantly. In the end, peace would be blown away by the winds of destruction and chaos in the same way, forgotten completely, ceasing to exist. He padded away, ruminating happily, leaving Aspenkit's fur on the other side of the border, one thought repeating over and over in his battle hungry mind.

 _It truly is the insane that run the world._

 _. . . ….. . . ._

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1870 words! Noice (nice XD)!**

 **Srry for posting this so late, I had a thing to do last night right after school today and then I got back at 8 so I had to write this really quickly-I read it over, tho, and I don't think it seems rushed! Tell me what u think!**

 **Yea, this chap is a bit more dark, not a lot, but I little. Big thnx to Broken Of Towering Trees who came up with the idea of having a Thornstar pov! I think it really worked! What do u say, BOTT?**

 ** _READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS PLEEEEEAAAAASE!:_**

 **Ok, so anyone who wants to read the story about the kid who goes insane, write the words "MORE JELLY PLEASE" in a review and I will PM (private message) it to u. I read it over and kinda decided I probably shouldn't put it on here…..not that it's necessarily bad, but its REALLY long and, well, there's an insane kid in it. That's enough explanation XD THERE IS THE FIRST PART OF IT BELOW THIS, THO, SO READ THAT IF UR INTERESTED!**

 **QOTDT: who is ur least fav character so far OTHER THAN THORNSTAR!?**

 **Thnx for reading this chapter!**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

A screech ripped through the ever silent night, filling every ear with sound. It drew out, long and endless, its owner squeezing his small hands to his ears. His mother hurriedly bustled him into the car, slamming the door behind him, which slightly muffled the sounds. The inner of the car was worse for her, though, the noise having no escape, like a gazelle surrounded by a starved pride of lions.

Once inside the car, she threw a small, baby blue blanket at the boy, who immediately silenced his incessant shrieking. Instead, he took up rocking back and forth in the chair, muttering underneath his breath, his gaze nervously darting back and forth. The small piece of cloth was clutched in his grasp, looking as if it could turn into shreds of string at any moment. The lady glanced over at the boy at any spare moment, between overhead lamps and red stoplights. Over time, the boy's uneasiness grew, until he started whimpering, only moments away from an all-out scream once again.

He was taking the gasp of air that would fuel the scream when the minivan abruptly squealed to a halt in front of a seemingly deserted old building. The lady quickly got out of the car, pulling her son behind her and into the tired old structure. There, at the front desk, sat an old lady spiritlessly flipping through a two year old magazine on home decoration. She looked up and her eyes instantly grew as wide as plates. She quickly went into a back room and returned with an old and quite serious looking man, who ushered the two into another tiny room, leaving the lady to resume her magazine reading.

The boy didn't exactly remember what they were saying, only that it was in a low and urgent whisper. He didn't care. It was just another voice, blending in with the others. He pressed his hand to his ears again, attempting to block out the noise, but succeeding even less than before. They grew louder and louder, never ceasing, until every inch of his small body was filled with the noise of their voices, their screams, all competing for his attention. His eyes were squeezed so tight that they started to actually hurt. He began to whimper out of fright, but it was lost among the voices. It rose to a screech before long, but that too was overpowered.

In an instant, the lady was at his side, hugging him and patting his hair. What was it with him? Why was he like this all of a sudden? She looked at the man for answers, but his squinty gaze was on the child, who had begun to quiet his yell. She turned back to her son and helplessly watched him as he finally finished his panic attack and opened his brilliant blue eyes once again. They stared into hers, afraid and nervous. She gave him his blanket once more and he stared at it, only slightly comforted by its softness and captivation. He held it in his arms again and closed his eyes, a tiny smile on his lips. Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep. But just as his eyes were closing and the voices were fading, he heard his mother say one word to the man: alright.

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **That was the first part of it! If u want to read the rest, say "MORE JELLY PLEASE" in a review and I'll PM it to u XD THNX!**


	11. The Fur Tuft's Thoughts

**WASSAP GUYS?! Ok, so this chap is super wordy for some dumb reason. Idk.**

 **The beginning of the chapter is actually, in a really weird way, from the perspective of the clump of fur that was stuck in between thornstar's claws. I know that sounds really weird but just read it! It was the first time ive ever written something from the perspective of an inanimate object, so bear with me!**

 **Well, enjoy!**

 **Oh, and I put the rest of "Five" at the end, so read it if u want to c how that story ends :D**

. . . ….. . . .

The tuft of fur swirled away on the evening breeze, caught in a draft, flying away from the angry, crazy tom. What was his deal? Why was he so . . . insane? Delusional? Obsessed with power? The real question was what was he actually? Was he really insane, or was he just a normal cat, overwhelmed with the responsibility of power?

Maybe he had a mental problem. Maybe he didn't. It was hard to tell. The way he acted—beating kits, wanting unrealistically large amounts of power, harming other cats without caring about them—could have been an actual problem that cats had, but it could also be as simple as the cat just having no heart, no soul.

Thornstar was a difficult case when it came to deciding whether or not he was insane or just cruel. Did he see things? Did he hear voices? No one other than him would ever know, unless someone was foolish enough to ask him. Then, the only thing they would discover was how claws feel digging into your throat. And after, they'd feel how death felt like when he payed you a visit. It was best to keep your mouth shut instead of asking the cat what was truly on your mind.

The fur was lifted higher into the air as the wind blew on. It was an interesting concept, what the . . . troubled, let's call him, leader had thought, that peace would eventually be blown away by the winds of destruction and chaos. Then that was what Thornstar wanted? Destruction? Chaos? Did he even want the power, or was it just an excuse to see more violence, to have the feeling of fur and blood beneath his claws yet again? Maybe he wanted both, and he could, say, kill two rabbits with one swipe.

The wind that the tuft of fur was floating on suddenly gave out, sending it falling effortlessly to the ground on the other side of the river.

While it was true, of course, that peace could never last forever, the same truth applied to chaos and destruction. Eventually it would come to an end, either in that a shaky agreement of peace was made, or that every cat died, drowning in their own want for war. The point was that bloodshed would eventually cease, and peace would rise up yet again. It would come again, no matter the situation, taking its rightful place in every Gathering and every occasional border patrol sighting of another clan checking their own territory.

It was clear, though, that peace was not in Thornstar's picture of a perfect world. The troubled leader would obviously not give up in his want for war, possibly even going to the extreme more than he already had. Who knew what he could do as a dead cat, walking in the dreams of power hungry cats like him? They would learn banned battle moves, ways to unendingly make the fur on the other leaders' backs stand on end and bristle in rage. And if one of those cats became the leader of a clan, then the future of the forest and moors alike would be in deep trouble, even more so if the cat turned out to be more corrupt and evil than Thornstar himself.

It had been a quite recent event, Thornstar's change in character. Before, he had always been kind, but still harsh when he needed to be, and willing to agree with the other clans, but not afraid to oppose them, too. Now, it was just 'I'm right, you're wrong' from him. No one was worth listening to because none of them were as great and powerful as he. To him, that was what defined the importance of a cat.

Which helped him emotionally when it came to hurting them. They aren't powerful, they don't deserve to live; they aren't amazingly strong, then they shouldn't be wasting the precious breath that better cats could be breathing, helping them to live longer, more important lives.

It was all in the hierarchy for the WindClan leader. It was a surprise to quite a few of the cats, not only in the moor clan, but in the others as well, that the cat had let elders and weak kits stay in the clan at all. They made WindClan look weak; wasn't that reason enough to throw them out?

But even Thornstar wasn't foolish enough to throw them out. He had heard the age old stories of Brokenstar and what had happened to him after all that he had done. Thornstar didn't really want to be blinded. It would make him weaker. And if there was one thing that Thornstar wasn't, it was weak.

No no, the leader of WindClan wouldn't be as stupid as that ShadowClan cat so many years ago. Yes, he would be just as hungry for blood, and yes, he would still enjoy the thrill of ending another cat's life, but he wouldn't be so dumb as to break the warrior code and have reason to be kicked out of his powerful position. Well, at least he wouldn't let anyone _know_ about him breaking the code if he did. No one would ever know about him hurting that dumb little ThunderClan kit.

But it was for the good of his clan, and that was what mattered . . . not like it had pained him to hurt her. If she couldn't defend herself, then why live at all, right?

That was his logic. That was just the way that the WindClan leader thought. And no one could change that about him.

A muzzle shoved itself into the small pile of fur lying next to the river. A ThunderClan cat. It growled and picked it up in its jaws, running away from the water and into the forest beyond.

There was reason to hope, though, for the future of the forest, even if Thornstar's ominous ways hung over the heads of the cats every time they practiced battle moves or saw a rabbit on the freshkill pile. There was ThunderClan, after all. And RiverClan and ShadowClan. Three other clans with peace in them and plans for the future.

Then the future of the clans wasn't totally doomed, right? Three out of four of the clans would carry on with their lives in the years to come. And if WindClan was wiped out because of the actions of one cat, then so be it. Life would move on.

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit scooched around in her nest, trying to get comfortable. The painful scratches that Thornstar had given her were almost everywhere on her body, ensuring that there was no possible way for her to go to sleep without at least feeling an ache of pain somewhere on her pelt.

He had brutally attacked her just a few hours ago. Now it was sundown and she was still shaking in her fur. Would he attack her again before nightfall? Would he attack her again tomorrow? Or the day after that?

Aspenkit's ears slumped to her head. She hated living in fear. But there wasn't really any other choice in this situation. He was a full grown cat, while she still had all of her kit fur. He could kill her with a swipe of his paw and there would be nothing she could do about it.

Wolfkit and Spikekit had questioned her about her scratches, of course, when she got back to the nursery. Remembering Thornstar's words to not tell anyone about what had happened, she told them that she had accidentally run into a bramble bush. Aspenkit had seen them exchange looks, and they both clearly read that they didn't believe one word from her mouth. But they had known better than to say anything else. Thankfully.

Now the three friends sat next to each other, silently watching the sunset through the nursery entrance. There was nothing else to do than that. Just sit and watch.

Aspenkit sighed as the sun finally dipped below the horizon, taking any last light with it. "There goes our only entertainment," she croaked, trying to put a little bit of amusement into the evening.

Spikekit sadly nodded his head. "I really wish you could go outside."

"Yeah," Aspenkit meowed, then suddenly blurted out, "Thank you two so much."

They lifted their heads, surprised at her words. "What for?" Wolfkit asked.

"For being my friends," she replied. "And for staying in here with me. And for sharing your freshkill."

Wolfkit purred. "You're welcome."

Spikekit nodded, eyes alight with happiness. "It's worth it to get to hang out with you. Who knew that a ThunderClan cat could be so fun?"

Aspenkit's eyes narrowed in pretend anger. "What's that supposed to mean?"

They laughed, rolling on the floor, the night finally being turned from glum to fun. They stayed up talking for as long as they could, finally being shushed by the guard outside and put to bed by Goldspark.

Aspenkit sighed as she lay in her nest. It wasn't a happy sigh, or a sad sigh, or one of content or relief. It carried no emotion. But at the same time, it carried all of the emotions in the world.

Aspenkit sometimes felt happy here.

Sometimes, she felt sad.

Sometimes mad.

Relieved.

Depressed.

Downright bored.

The daily jumbles of emotion that she would feel while in the WindClan camp were enough to emotionally drain any cat, not just her. So she would sleep and feel completely emotionally replenished by sunrise.

But she had doubts in her mind as she drifted off to sleep that night. Doubts that she would always wake up in the enemy camp feeling ready for the upcoming day. She knew that her optimistic feelings would eventually wear out if every day ended up being like that day had been.

She just didn't know how long it would take for WindClan to drain her of her emotions completely, leaving her as rigid and plain as a lone tree, unshaken by any winds.

She wished she could say that wind had left her as untouched as that tree.

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit woke in the middle of the night, desperately needing to use the dirtplace.

She hopped out of her nest awkwardly, making sure not to step on any sleeping cats as she made her way to the nursery entrance.

 _Stupid Thornstar,_ she thought to herself _. If he hadn't frightened me so much, I would've gone to the dirtplace ages ago._ She had been too scared to leave the nursery after he attacked her, sure that he would jump out at her and hurt her again if she so much as took a step out of the den that she was confined to.

The black and silver kit poked her head through the entrance of the nursery. "Brownclaw?" she whispered to the guard.

He glared at her angrily. "What are you doing awake? Go back to bed!"

Aspenkit swallowed nervously. "I-I h-have to go to the dirtplace."

The guard groaned and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Can't you hold it in until morning?" When the kit shook her head urgently, he growled. "Fine. Follow me."

He led her the few fox lengths to the dirtplace tunnel, sitting next to it in a huff. "Make it quick," he snapped at her as she disappeared inside of the tunnel.

She made her dirt and covered it up quickly like Brownclaw had said, but something caught her eye before she could run back down the tunnel.

Right outside of the dirtplace wall, outside of the WindClan camp, were two gleaming eyes, staring straight back at Aspenkit. Mesmerized, Aspenkit looked back. Something about the bright yellow eyes seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen them before.

At least, she didn't recognize the cat until he shouted one thing, causing a dozen more pairs of eyes to open and fling their owners into the WindClan camp, bombarding the moor dens.

"ThunderClan, attack!"

. . . ….. . . .

 **2021 words! Boooyah!**

 **So how was that chapter? Good, I hope! This chapter seems to be a lot more vocabulary-y than the other ones…id don't know y it turned out that way…..**

 **Anyways, so next chapter will (obviously) be a battle! Im super excited to write it and I hope ur super excited to read it! This will be the first time that ive written a battle before, so it may be a little shaky.**

 **IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT!** **Ok, so I know a bunch of u probably read the part of the extra story, "Five," that I put at the bottom of chap10. Well, I decided to put the second part on today because one of my reviewers said that she would love to finish reading it but she's a guest so she can't pm me.** ** _BE WARNED IF U ARE TO READ IT! IT IS NOT RATED "G!" MORE LIKE "PG13", "T" IF IT WERE A FANFICTION! JUST WARNING U!_**

 **QOTDT: what quote/sentence from this whole chapter was ur favorite or sounded the most impressive/well written?**

 **Thnx for reading! Will update soon! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Byeee!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Last warning, people! Enter at ur own risk! XD**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Five**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

A screech ripped through the ever silent night, filling every ear with sound. It drew out, long and endless, its owner squeezing his small hands to his ears. His mother hurriedly bustled him into the car, slamming the door behind him, which slightly muffled the sounds. The inner of the car was worse for her, though, the noise having no escape, like a gazelle surrounded by a starved pride of lions.

Once inside the car, she threw a small, baby blue blanket at the boy, who immediately silenced his incessant shrieking. Instead, he took up rocking back and forth in the chair, muttering underneath his breath, his gaze nervously darting back and forth. The small piece of cloth was clutched in his grasp, looking as if it could turn into shreds of string at any moment. The lady glanced over at the boy at any spare moment, between overhead lamps and red stoplights. Over time, the boy's uneasiness grew, until he started whimpering, only moments away from an all-out scream once again.

He was taking the gasp of air that would fuel the scream when the minivan abruptly squealed to a halt in front of a seemingly deserted old building. The lady quickly got out of the car, pulling her son behind her and into the tired old structure. There, at the front desk, sat an old lady spiritlessly flipping through a two year old magazine on home decoration. She looked up and her eyes instantly grew as wide as plates. She quickly went into a back room and returned with an old and quite serious looking man, who ushered the two into another tiny room, leaving the lady to resume her magazine reading.

The boy didn't exactly remember what they were saying, only that it was in a low and urgent whisper. He didn't care. It was just another voice, blending in with the others. He pressed his hand to his ears again, attempting to block out the noise, but succeeding even less than before. They grew louder and louder, never ceasing, until every inch of his small body was filled with the noise of their voices, their screams, all competing for his attention. His eyes were squeezed so tight that they started to actually hurt. He began to whimper out of fright, but it was lost among the voices. It rose to a screech before long, but that too was overpowered.

In an instant, the lady was at his side, hugging him and patting his hair. What was it with him? Why was he like this all of a sudden? She looked at the man for answers, but his squinty gaze was on the child, who had begun to quiet his yell. She turned back to her son and helplessly watched him as he finally finished his panic attack and opened his brilliant blue eyes once again. They stared into hers, afraid and nervous. She gave him his blanket once more and he stared at it, only slightly comforted by its softness and captivation. He held it in his arms again and closed his eyes, a tiny smile on his lips. Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep. But just as his eyes were closing and the voices were fading, he heard his mother say one word to the man: alright.

. . . ….. . . .

He woke up sitting in the chair that he had fallen asleep in, his blanket clutched in his hand, but that was the only thing he recognized. He couldn't guess even in the slightest where he was. He looked around at his surroundings, afraid and a bit disappointed, but mostly curious. He was sitting in the middle of a stuffy, miniscule room with no door or mean of entrance or exit at all. Oddly, though, there was a small black square on one wall. Once he got closer, he noticed that it had a glare to it that made it almost look like glass, like obsidian.

Spooked, the ten year old backed up until his back smashed into the opposite wall. He sank to the floor, now more panicked than intrigued. He tried to stay calm, but couldn't control himself for long. He backed into the corner, his panting gaining speed until he was fighting for breath.

Not again! He begged silently and desperately to no one. Please, not again! He knew it would begin again: the far off murmur, then the loud talking, than the screaming, than every noise imaginable, all jumbled together like a massacre.

He sat in the corner, trembling, burying his head in his arms, until finally it started. But it didn't happen like routine. The voices barely got to the normal voice level when they just stopped increasing. The child should have been comforted by this, but it just made him feel more desperate for it to stop. But it didn't stop. It lasted longer than the normal length of the screams, much longer, stretching into forever.

Right when he thought he was about to go mad from the noise, it stopped. Confused, he looked up and immediately pressed himself closer into the corner.

Standing next to the window was an old man, sixty or seventy at least. He wore rags for clothes and had on a gross sunhat on his head, the smell it was emitting actually visible. Every part of him was covered in dirt and grotesque, untreated burns and boils. He had a huge, bloodied bandage on his left leg, almost covering it up entirely. He had no shoes, his feet torn up and disfigured from the countless streets they had walked unshielded. He had a current, unending twitch of his right arm and left eyelid and he breathed in ragged gasps, each looking like it could be his last.

At first, his focus was nowhere, staring off into space uncertainly, but then his head snapped around and his gaze pierced the boy's. They stayed that way for a full minute, old man and little boy, both looking into each other's eyes, neither saying a word. But it didn't last long. The old man narrowed his eyes, the left one twitching, and he finally broke the silence.

"Five," he uttered.

The boy blinked, surprised and scared. "Wh-what?"

"Five."

The boy swallowed and looked at the man, trying to read his thoughts by looking into his eyes. But nothing was given away in the man's sad old look. "What does 'five' mean?" he asked cautiously.

But all the man did was shake his head sadly and repeat himself. "Five." Then he twitched once more and flickered out of existence in the blink of an eye.

"Wha—no!" the boy screamed. "What does that mean? Come back!" He got to his feet and ran to the place where the man was, searching for where he could have gone. Yet there was no place to where he could have possibly escaped. The only thing in the whole room was the small, rickety chair. He resumed calling out anyways, searching for the man who had said a total of three words to him. He eventually gave up and went back to his corner, grasping for his blanket once again. He shuttered and shivered, trying to use the blanket as some sort of warmth. He considered moving to the chair, but he was too scared that something could sneak up on him from behind, so he stayed in his cold, uncomfortable corner.

As he fell asleep again, the word the man had spoken passed through his mind once again, and he wondered what 'five' could possibly mean as he drifted into sleep.

. . . ….. . . .

The boy's mother looked down at her son as he stared, hypnotized, at the corner of the one-way mirror. She watched as he started talking hurriedly, then screamed, and then ran around the room, looking as if he was searching for something, eventually collapsing in the corner with his blue scrap of cloth. His eyes closed after a while, and his breath slowed.

The lady turned desperately to the man from the old building, who had seen the whole thing. "Well?!" she exclaimed at him. "What's wrong with him? Why is he all of a sudden like this?"

The man answered the question with a question. "How long has he been like this?"

The lady opened her mouth wordlessly, then stuttered, "I—I don't know! Four, five weeks, maybe! But what's wrong with him?"

Another question. "How long ago did his father die?"

And just like that, the lady was thrown back into the memories of her husband's death: the fiery car crash, the drunken teen who had caused it, both drivers dead, the funeral that had come too soon, and the burial. She had visited his grave every day since, sometimes bringing her son, sometimes going alone when he was in school. Hours spent there, crying alone and heartbroken. She had tried to stay strong for her ten year old son, but he was smarter than she gave him credit for.

She shook herself out of her melancholy memories and answered the question. "Nine weeks, four days," she croaked, tears swelling in her eyes.

"And he was fine before that?"

"Yes."

"Then what I suspected is probably true," the man said. "Your son, Danny, is probably feeling abandonment issues. He feels lost and left behind without his father." Tears streaked down the lady's cheeks. "He's going insane from feeling alone. He has probably forgotten that you are here for him. And until he realizes that he needs you," he said, leaning in towards the lady at that last part, "he will stay this way."

The lady wiped at her cheeks with her hand before she replied. "S-so…we have to do it then?"

The man nodded. "It makes the most sense."

The lady looked down at her son, huddled in the corner and shivering, occasionally twitching and whimpering in his sleep. It was for the best. She had to. After, she would explain and he would understand. She sighed, then took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's do it."

. . . ….. . . .

 **(AUTHOR'S NOTE: LAST CHANCE TO TURN BACK, PEOPLE!...OK, I WARNED U…..)**

Danny sat huddled in his normal spot, the corner, facing the black, mysterious square. He had been locked up in this place for—how long?—three full days now and he hadn't seen sunshine once. Every day since, the old ragged man had come again, and every day he had said one word, but it had changed from 'five.' The second day, it was 'four,' and then 'three,' and the day before it was 'two.' All that Danny knew was that the man was counting down, but he still had no idea why he was counting down.

So Danny sat in the corner and waited, with his torn up shred squeezed in his hands. He stayed there, until the ever so familiar voices began in his head. He sat and breathed deeply, trying to ignore it as usual. It grew until it was many normal voices all chiming together as one, going on and on until it finally ended. He opened his eyes.

The man was back. They both stared into each other's eyes as normal until the old man squinted and spoke. "One."

Danny nodded and kept the old man's gaze. He had learned that the elder would never answer any questions with anything other than the number. It wasn't worth asking him at all. Danny already knew his answer. So he sat and stared, until the man gave his trademark twitch and faded away at last.

The boy sighed. The old man had been his only visitor for the past few days. Where was his mother? Had she noticed his absence?

He rested his head on his arms again and closed his eyes in thought, but then opened them hurriedly when he heard a small beep. He looked up and saw no difference in the room, but suddenly a voice rang out, loud and clear, around the room. Not the kind that only he heard for some reason, but a normal, worldly noise.

"Danny?" it said, low and manly. The boy thought he might have heard it before, but he couldn't be sure. "Danny, I have some news for you."

Danny immediately sat up, excited. His mother must be here to take him away from this place. She hadn't forgotten about him after all! They could finally get on with their normal lives again!

"My mom's here, right?" he asked excitedly. "We're going home now! I can't wait to see my home!"

There was a pause from the voice before it responded. "No Danny. Your mother isn't here. She—"

"Then she's coming?" the boy interrupted. "She'll be here for me tomorrow?"

Another pause, and then, "No Danny. Your mom isn't coming here. Not now, not ever again."

It was the boy's turn to not say anything. A bazillion questions went through his mind, but he could only voice one. "Why?" he whispered. "What did I do wrong?"

"Your mother can't handle the stress that she's under right now. She's going to live somewhere else, and she's signed you up for adoption." The voice hesitated again, and then added, "I'm sorry, but you'll never see her again."

Danny didn't know if the voice kept talking or not, but he had stopped listening. The voices in his head started up again, but he couldn't hear them over his own thoughts screaming inside of his skull. Anger. Dismay. Depression. Overwhelming sadness. Why was she gone? Why had she left? What had he done wrong? He could have changed!

But now she was gone and he'd never see her ever again. She was gone for good. He sank to the floor and bawled his eyes out. Now he really was all alone. He didn't want to be adopted. All he wanted was his mother. And if he didn't have his mother, he had nothing at all.

Once he came back to his senses, he realized that the voice had stopped and that the lights had begun to dim, meaning it was time for him to sleep. But he couldn't sleep. Not now.

Danny wasn't sure how long he sat there, thinking. But it was long enough for him to decide what he would do. Without his mother, he was all alone in the world. His mom was the only person who kept him going. Without her, he just couldn't do that.

He took his blue blanket and squeezed it in his hands before he draped it around his neck. He began to tie a knot in it, his neck in in the center of it. He took both sides of the blanket and pulled as tight as he could, choking himself and closing his windpipe. His head started to ache and bulge painfully, his supply of air cut off.

His view shifted as he fell sideways and his head collided with the ground. He looked towards the corner of the room, next to the black square and he saw the old man who had been visiting him. And right before his eyes closed for the last time and his vision turned black for good, he heard the man say one last word: "Zero."

. . . ….. . . .

"Nooooooooo!" The lady screeched as she saw the body of her dead son, huddled in the corner where he had been so often. "Nooooooooooo! You said it would work! You said he'd be cured if I went through with this!"

The man stared at the boy from behind the glass, speechless, mouth agape. "I-it always works. I-I don't understand. Why…?"

"He's dead! And it's all your fault!" she broke down and sobbed, all her anger replaced with mournful sorrow. "He was all I had left!" she cried. She ignored the man trying to comfort her, instead pushing him away and running out the door. She ran outside, her vision a blur, and threw herself into her car. Driving home, she ignored all red lights and road laws and just drove home as fast as she could.

Her thoughts raced through her head, like a swarm of bees, and she began to hear something. At first, she couldn't identify what it was, but it soon grew louder and she realized what it was. It was the sounds of hundreds of peoples' voices, all chiming in together. They grew louder and louder until they were almost unbearable.

To her relief, she finally drove into her driveway and ran into her house. She flopped down onto the couch, using a pillow to try to muffle the screams. But they just kept coming, louder and louder. She screamed, the noise driving her mad, until she thought that her head would split from the insanity.

But then it stopped. Completely. The lady looked up from her pillow, hoping it was done for good. But what she saw then just made her even more frightened.

A man stood in her doorway. He was ragged and dirty, with bandages everywhere and open sores all over his body. He had a disgusting hat on his head and a repeating twitch of his right arm and left eye.

The man looked into the lady's petrified eyes with a clear gaze. He stood there breathing hoarsely, until he finally spoke a single word to her. "Five."

. . . ….. . . .

 **Ok, u can't say I didn't warn u, bc I warned u LIKE A THOUSAND TIMES! . . . . but that ending is pretty great, isn't it? If u don't get it, leave it in a review and ill explain. And review/pm me to tell me ur thots on "Five" or "The Aspen's Screech"!**

 **Thnx for reading either one or two of the stories! Ur da coolest! XD Bye!**


	12. The Battle for the Kit

**YAY THE 1ST BATTLE CHAPTER! GET EXCITED! STUFF. WILL. HAPPEN!**

. . . ….. . . .

Smokeleg launched himself into the midst of the WindClan camp, immediately turning to the warriors den, greeting the sleeping moor cats with the sight of his devilish claws. They yowled in surprise as the loyal ThunderClan cats woke them from their slumber, brutally attacking them as they struggled to their feet in confusion and pain.

A loud snarl sounded from above Smokeleg's head. He turned to see Thornstar, tense and muscles strained, on the Tallrock, eyes narrowed in furious malice towards the cats raiding his camp. "WindClan, awake! Teach these ThunderClan scum that no one can invade us!"

He flung himself off of the rock, barreling into Blazestar. The fighting erupted once more, the moorland cats finally fully conscious, cats hissing and spitting in every direction.

Smokeleg faced a light brown tom, Lizardshine. The tom snarled and lunged at the ThunderClan deputy. Smokeleg jumped back as Lizardshine landed where he had been only a moment ago. The white and grey tom jumped forward again, swiping his claws down his enemy's face.

Lizardshine hissed in anger, his paw flinging out and catching Smokeleg on the shoulder, raking his claws down his side. Pain exploded on Smokeleg's pelt as blood dripped to the dirty, sandy ground.

Lizardshine swiped his paw out again, aiming for Smokeleg's head this time. Smokeleg dodged it, though, ducking his head beneath the flailing arm and thrusting his head quickly into Lizardshine's chest. The WindClan cat yowled in surprise as he was flung across the clearing, landing on top of another of his clanmates.

Smokeleg seized the opportunity and sprinted over to his opponent, planting one paw on his throat and the others on one of his shoulders and both of his haunches. He squished Lizardshine's muzzle into the ground, satisfaction shooting through him as he heard the brown cat give a strangled yelp of pain.

Smokeleg used his hind legs to claw and tear viciously at Lizardshine's back, pressing his forepaws harder onto the cat's shoulders as he struggled beneath him. He eventually got off of him, his back having become a gory lump of chunky, red muscle and blood, and Lizardshine being too weak to even struggle anymore.

The tom got to his paws shakily, shooting Smokeleg one last look of both fear and hatred before he ran away from him, disappearing up the slope.

Smokeleg turned when he heard a yelp of pain from behind him, seeing Wonderpaw and Nettlepaw. The tom was tearing into her pelt with tooth and claw, ripping a long, bloodied gap in Wonderpaw's leg, the she-cat screeching in agony.

Smokeleg hissed in anger, lunging at the cream and brown apprentice. He held the hissing apprentice up by the scruff, raking his claws down his side, relishing the odd feeling of happiness he got from it. Nettlepaw tore away from his grasp, leaving behind half of his pelt in Smokeleg's claws.

Smokeleg searched the hoard of writhing and spitting cats. Flamepaw and Skypaw were back to back, clawing at two WindClan cats. Heatcloud was fighting besides his mate, Shimmersoar, taking on a brown tabby tom, Ropetail, matching each other swipe for swipe. Blazestar was busy with the WindClan deputy, Willowbreath, easily beating her, adding scratch after scratch to her already mangled pelt. Smokeleg narrowed his eyes as he kept looking; Thornstar was nowhere to be seen.

His eyes finally landed on the two cats who he was looking for, and he sighed in relief as he saw Aspenkit, safe with Glacierfire. They were on the outside of the hectic clearing, staying in the shadows.

Smokeleg darted over to them, rubbing his muzzle up against Aspenkit's, purring happily. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

She turned away, shame and sadness showing in her eyes. "I'm sorry I went in WindClan territory."

"It's okay, Aspen—"

"Hey!" a loud snarl rang out, the voice belonging to Willowbreath, her tail swishing through the air, pointing at the three cats. "They're trying to escape with that kit! Don't let them take her!"

. . . ….. . . .

The moon shone down brightly on the cat as she hunted alone on the wide open moor. Her gaze was trained on a small mouse that was scurrying about in the fields, looking for a nut or anything that it could eat. Her eyes followed it, intrigued and hypnotized, unblinking. Her tail soundlessly swished over the tall grass, coming to rest beside her flank.

Then, as fast as a lightning flash, her paw shot out, catching the mouse's tail in her claws. The mouse squeaked in pain and surprise, twisting about in its attempt to escape. The she-cat tossed the mouse into the air, purring as it hit the ground, stunned.

 _This is the best entertainment I've had in a moon,_ she thought to herself. _Sadly, that's true. I wish it wasn't._

She put her paw over the little animal again, sheathing and unsheathing her claws over the top of its head, not hitting it yet. _Why would I want to end my entertainment so soon?_

Her grey ears perked up as she heard faint, far off yowls and hisses sounding from farther down the moor.

The little mouse seized the cat's moment of distraction, wiggling out from under her claws and darting into a small hole before she could do anything.

The cat snarled in anger with herself, lashing her tail. _Great. Now what?_

She turned to the distant sounds of cats fighting. _Well,_ she supposed. _I guess I can go and watch . . . whatever it is that's happening over there._

Standing up, she stretched her back, smacking her lips, and started stalking towards the sounds of the night.

 _Maybe it'll be more interesting than the mouse . . . ._

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit swallowed in fear as Smokeleg and Glacierfire shoved her behind them, forcing her up against the camp boundary as they barricaded the spitting WindClan cats from getting to her.

Other ThunderClan cats ran from their fights with the moorland cats, coming to the two warriors' aids, stepping in front of the tabby kit, creating a wall of angry, determined cats.

"Get that kit at all costs!" Willowbreath snarled, her sharp eyes never leaving the cowering form of Aspenkit.

The other WindClan cats formed a line, too, facing the one of forest cats. They started prowling forward, claws extended, fangs yearning to sink into cat flesh.

Aspenkit shook in fear, hoping and praying that ThunderClan would be victorious in this fight. If they lost, then Aspenkit would be staying in WindClan even longer than she would have before.

Suddenly, her neck was yanked towards the sky, bringing the rest of her body with it as a cat carelessly grabbed her in its jaws. She looked up fearfully to see the evil WindClan leader carrying her by the neck. Thornstar had been hiding in wait in the shadows of the camp wall, waiting for the right time to grab the defenseless kit.

He sprang across the clearing and was standing in a deserted spot before any of the ThunderClan cats could say or do anything. They all just stared at him, shocked at what had just happened.

Aspenkit struggled in his fierce grip, desperately trying to unlatch her neck from his jaws, but he only fastened them tighter around her throat. She quickly surrendered, ceasing all attempts as breathing became harder for her.

Glacierfire gasped, fearful for her kit's life, as Smokeleg and the other ThunderClan cats growled menacingly at the brown tabby leader. Smokeleg took one step towards him, but Thornstar held up one sheathed paw in warning.

"No, no, no," he meowed as if he was reprimanding an apprentice. "Don't even think about it. If you so much as take one more step towards me, the kit gets it." He held up one paw, a single claw extended from it, and moved it over his throat as if slitting his neck.

Smokeleg's eyes narrowed, pure fire and anger lighting them up as he stepped back to where he was.

Thornstar purred as if nothing was wrong at all. "That's better. It's a good thing you value the life of your kit, isn't it?"

Glacierfire whimpered frightfully. "Please, let her go. She doesn't deserve to die!"

Thornstar tapped his tail on his chin, as if ruminating about whether or not to slaughter the kit. "Well . . . fine. But only if you all leave. Now."

Blazestar snarled. "And what if we don't?"

Thornstar's mouth curled into a wicked smile. "Then this kit's final moment has arrived."

As he was talking, everyone's gaze flicked just past his shoulder as two bright red eyes opened in the shadows of the camp wall. Nobody said anything, too confused to utter a word.

Thornstar frowned at the lack of reaction from the ThunderClan cats. _What? I just said that this kit is going to die if they don't leave! Why aren't they yowling their stupid heads off for mercy and forgiveness? And why aren't they even looking at me?_

Thornstar turned to see what they were looking at, and as soon as his amber eyes connected with the red ones, a black and grey cat shot out from the shadows and barreled into the WindClan leader.

He yowled in surprise, dropping Aspenkit in the process. The newcomer shoved the little kit behind her protectively. She was a black, smooth pelted she-cat with grey ears and striking red eyes that were currently shooting daggers at Thornstar.

The leader shook himself off as he took in the sight of the unknown cat. "Who are you?"

She didn't answer the question. "What you're going to do is let this kit go without hurting her or any other cat in the process." She let out a threateningly low, deadly growl that would send any cat running for their mothers. But apparently not the all mighty Thornstar.

He laughed heartily, knowing that there was no possible way that this pretender could harm him. "Sorry, but that's not how I work. And what could you ever do to me? You're just a tiny, weak she-cat."

In a blink of an eye, the mysterious cat was standing over Thornstar, his left foreleg held in between her powerful jaws, one forepaw on the leader's head, the other on his chest, pushing him into the ground with all of the strength of StarClan themselves. Thornstar gazed up at her, eyes wide in surprise.

She glared down at him, unfazed. "You want to say that again?"

He gazed up at her angrily, but not backing down from a challenge. He leaned in towards her slightly, which was hard to do because of her weight. "You're a weak, little cat. You could never do anything to hurt me."

She looked down at him, hatred, anger, and, surprisingly, satisfaction showing in her eyes. "I'm actually glad you said that. Because now I have a reason to do this."

As quick as a flash, she jerked her powerful head back, bringing Thornstar's leg with it. She shoved one of her paws into it forcefully, causing a powerful _crack_ to sound around the clearing. A moment later, a shriek of pure agony erupted from Thornstar's throat, filling every ear with the deafening sound of his overwhelming pain.

The WindClan leader looked helplessly at his horribly broken leg, which was resorted to a twisted and bloody lump. Blood poured out of it, never-ending, seemingly too much for one cat alone. He looked back up at the cat who had done this to him, who was staring down at him coldly. Thornstar gritted his teeth, his eyes brimming with malice, pain, and, just barely seeable, a tiny pinch of fearful respect. Then his head flopped to the floor and his breathing slowed until it stopped altogether. He had lost a life.

The cats around the clearing just stared at the dead cat in front of them. Thornstar was one of the most powerful and strong cats in all of the clans. Who was this stranger to come in and kill him just like that?

The she-cat stared around at the cats, who had shifted their stunned expressions from Thornstar to her, mouths agape.

Looking at them, she backed away until she was next to Aspenkit again. She curled her tail protectively around the kit, glaring at any cat who stared at her, no matter what clan they were from.

She picked up Aspenkit. "Anyone who tries to stop me," she snarled. "Will end up like him!" She pointed her tail at the still form of Thornstar.

That was enough to shut up any yowls of opposition from the crowd of cats. All except one.

"You can't take that kit!" Willowbreath snarled. "She belongs to WindClan!"

The unknown she-cat frowned in mock confusion. "Sorry, I thought she belonged to that other clan!" She narrowed her eyes. "And that other clan—ThunderClan, you call it?—is the only clan that is going to get her." She widened her eyes slightly. "Unless you'd like to fight me for her?"

"Any day!" Willowbreath hissed, lunging at the grey and black cat.

The she-cat sidestepped the WindClan cat easily, looking bored. Willowbreath swiped at her again, but the she-cat ducked under it, all while still holding Aspenkit up by her scruff.

She sighed, annoyed. "I really don't have time for this!" She easily flung out one paw, catching Willowbreath in the throat. With one flick of her claws, she cut a horrible, jagged opening in the cat's neck.

Willowbreath let out a strangled cry, falling to the floor. She gasped as her blood mixed with the dirt on the floor, her legs flailing pathetically. She stared up at the strange she-cat, glaring with her oddly bright yellow eyes, before she gave one last twitch and fell still.

The she-cat looked around at the other cats, who were now all pressed up against the camp wall in fear. She nodded once and began walking towards the camp entrance.

As the disappeared through the tunnel, the ThunderClan cats shared one last look of surprise and shock with the WindClan cats before they ran after the stranger, eventually exploding out of the camp and out onto the moor.

Smokeleg expected the she-cat to have run away, far away by now, bringing his poor kit with her. But she was calmly sitting next to the tunnel, tail neatly wrapped around her paws.

Aspenkit flung herself onto Smokeleg and Glacierfire when she saw them, sobbing, happy that she was finally reunited with her parents. The newcomer watched the whole exchange with happiness in her eyes, as if she hadn't just killed two cats.

Blazestar walked cautiously up to her, dipping his head, partially out of respect, partially out of fear. "Thank you," he meowed. "If you hadn't helped, that kit would be dead by now. But who are you?"

The she-cat dipped her head back to him. "My name is Terror, and I'd like to join your clan."

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2510 words! Very yass!**

 **…..AND I SO GOT U, BROKEN OF TOWERING TREES! SURPRISE! In reality, it was really hard telling u that I wasn't going with what u had suggested! XD XD XD but it was SOOO worth it! R u surprised? I hope ur surprised!**

 **ATTENTION! I know that Terror is the name of that one dog from erin hunter's survivors, but I swear I didn't take it from there! It was an OC suggested from Broken Of Towering Trees! Just saying!**

 **Anyways, this was my first battle! Did it turn out good? Shoot me a pm or review about what u think!**

 **I am SOOOO sorry for not updating yesterday! I tried to, but my bros had a marching band thing that I had to go to and it lasted the whole day! SUPER SORRY! I will always try to update once a day, but that will sometimes not always happen. I SWEAR, I WILL TRY MY BEST!**

 _ **ATTENTION! READ THIS IT IS MUCHOS IMPORTANTE!**_ **ok, so I put a poll up on my profile page that has to do with how this story ends! Trust me, it won't end for a REALLY long time, but the whether or not the ending is happy affects how the whole story goes. So definitely check that out! I'd like to know how u want it to end!**

 **QOTDT: how do u like Terror? Should she be a big character in the story or just a small one?**

 **Thnx for reading! And thnk u to anyone who read "Five"! it seemed like a lot of people liked it!**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! K BYE WILL UPDATE SOON!**


	13. Going Home

**Heres another chap! LAST ONE BEFORE U-NO-WHAT BEGINS!...unless u don't know what im talking about…..well, u will by next chap!**

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit trudged home in the dark, Wonderpaw limping along at one side, Rufflepaw on the other. The leafbare air swirled around them, chilling the ThunderClan cats to the bone. Until they reached the tree line, it wouldn't get much better.

Up ahead, in front of the weary and wound-bearing cats, Blazestar, Smokeleg, and Terror marched, leading the way. After the black and grey she-cat requested to join ThunderClan, Blazestar had doubted and been almost too cautious of her, but after some helpful insight from his deputy, he had decided to at least give her a chance. Smokeleg would do almost anything for the newcomer; she had saved his lost kit's life.

Wonderpaw let out a whimper as she struggled along besides Aspenkit, her bloodied foreleg leaving a trail of muck in its wake. The apprentice awkwardly hobbled along on it, reminding Aspenkit of how she had had to walk when they had gone collecting cobwebs not even a halfmoon before. So much had changed since then.

"Here, let me help you, Wonderpaw," Rufflepaw offered, leaning over so that his sister could lean on him.

A thought occurred to Aspenkit at his statement. "Wait," she meowed, confused. "You guys said that you were going to have your final assessments a while ago. Why are you still apprentices?"

Rufflepaw sighed as they slowly walked along the WindClan territory. "After the clan discovered you kits missing, they paused our assessments until a few days ago. We all passed, but Blazestar was too distressed to make us warriors, what with not all of the kits being found."

Wonderpaw growled slightly. "I'd say he's _still_ too distressed to hold the ceremony." The three cats glanced up at the black and ginger leader, who was hanging his head, clearly not paying attention to the conversation between his deputy and the stranger.

"It only got worse when we got a message from WindClan that they would torture you until we gave them part of our territory," Rufflepaw snarled angrily, then glanced over at the black and silver kit. "Did they actually hurt you?" he questioned, eyes narrowed.

Aspenkit stiffened slightly at the question. Of course they had hurt her! But ThunderClan wouldn't have known . . . . Thornstar had told her not to tell a soul about what he had done, or he would slaughter her. Would it still matter, even though he wasn't around her all day anymore? Surely not; he wouldn't be able to harm her while she was in her home clan.

But there was no saying what WindClan would do to get what they wanted. They could easily launch an attack on ThunderClan, and they could just as easily find her and kill her. Then she would've been better off staying in the moor clan.

Aspenkit finally noticed that Rufflepaw was staring at her expectantly. "Um, n-no," she stammered. "They never hurt me."

Rufflepaw snorted at that, not believing a word of what she said. Just looking at her, you could immediately tell that she hadn't had a proper meal in days and that she had been beaten at least once.

"That's funny that you say that, actually," he pushed, pretending to shrug it off. "Because when Wonderpaw was on a hunting patrol, she found a scratched up tuft of fur on our side of the border that smelled and looked exactly like your pelt does." He sniffed slyly as he saw Aspenkit shudder slightly and attempt to look oblivious. It wasn't working. "But I guess it was someone else then. Not even WindClan is that cruel. Who would ever harm a defenseless kit?"

He glanced over again to see Aspenkit bristling, clearly inwardly telling herself to not say a word about anything that went on inside the walls of the wind whipped camp.

Rufflepaw smiled slightly in amusement at her attempts to constrain herself. Why wouldn't she just come out and admit that they had hurt her? "Don't you agree, Aspenkit?" he whispered.

The little she-cat breathed steadily, trying to calm her anger filled heart, all of which was directed at her former imprisoners. "Yeah," she finally managed. "They're great. They never laid a claw on me."

Rufflepaw's eyes widened, impressed. _For a little kit, she sure is good at keeping her mouth shut._

He finally gave up on trying to get her to talk. "So are you excited to get back to ThunderClan?"

Aspenkit's eyes immediately brightened and an excited hop was added to her step. "Of course! I can't wait to see Shinekit, Whiskerkit, Batkit, and Poolkit!"

Rufflepaw and Wonderpaw exchanged shocked and worried expressions. Should they be the ones to tell her that—

"Oh! And it'll be so nice to be able to talk to the elders again! And to watch the warriors! And to smell the freshkill!"

Wonderpaw shook her head. It wasn't their job to tell her the bad news. She would learn it in her own time.

Aspenkit suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing Wonderpaw and Rufflepaw to almost run into her hindquarters. She turned around, facing them, her tail down and her ears flat on her head, all happy demeanors about her gone. She wore a sad and desperate look on her face as she looked pleadingly back up at the two apprentices.

"I never got a chance to say goodbye to Wolfkit and Spikekit!" she mewed sadly.

Wonderpaw's ear twitched. "Who are Wolfkit and Spikekit?"

Aspenkit sighed, resuming her walk towards the ThunderClan border, which was now only a dozen or so foxlengths away. "They're the two WindClan kits who kept me company. Without them, I wouldn't've had anyone to talk to."

Rufflepaw fidgeted awkwardly. "Aspenkit, it's okay for you to talk to other cats at gatherings and stuff . . . well, once you get old enough to go to one, at least . . . but just be sure that you don't get too close with any of them. It's fine that you made friends in this situation, but remember that you'll eventually have to go up against them in battles. So don't try to hold on to them."

Aspenkit walked along sadly. She knew he was right. It was against the warrior code to have friends in other clans. But how could she just stop being friends with Wolfkit and Spikekit? They were already two of her closest ones!

She sighed as Rufflepaw picked her up by the scruff and carried her across the river separating ThunderClan and WindClan. She almost wished that she had stayed on the moor for a little while longer so that she could spend more time with the other kits. She wished that they could be friends, no matter what clan they were from.

 _But my duty and loyalty to ThunderClan will have to come first,_ she admitted, defeated _. It'll be hard, but I'll have to forget about them for the good of my clan. In a moon, they'll mean nothing to me._

 _. . . ….. . . ._

Aspenkit bounded through the entrance to her home clan as the first dawn rays filtered into the tired hollow. At her presence, though, any stray, tired cats lounging about who had been awaiting the battle patrol's return jumped up and ran over to her and the other scarred cats.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" Snowvine, a friendly elder, greeted her, nuzzling her warmly.

"We thought you were a goner!" Woodshine, another elder, admitted, eyes alight with happy relief.

But the three cats that caught Aspenkit's attention were Shinekit, Whiskerkit, and Batkit. They bowled her over in their excited mewling and gleeful hops of joy.

"There you are!" Batkit mewed, rump waggling.

"I _told_ you she was fine!" Shinekit proudly exclaimed, scrunching up her face playfully at her brother.

Whiskerkit just huffed in play defeat, sticking his tongue out at Shinekit. "It's about time that you finally beat me at something!" He looked over happily at Aspenkit. "But it's a good thing you were right with this! Welcome home, Aspenkit!"

"Yeah, welcome back!" Batkit yowled.

"Promise you'll tell me everything that happened?" Shinekit begged.

Aspenkit purred. "Of course!" _Well, I'll tell you_ almost _everything . . ._

She looked past the excited kits to see Emeraldsong looking on sadly, her eyes glazed over in pain. The thought occurred to Aspenkit as she took a head count of the kits around her. Wait, where was—

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!" a familiar voice called out.

Blazestar was lying on the Highledge as he usually did when he called ThunderClan. He lay there, the pained look that Emeraldsong displayed plastered on his face, too.

It didn't take long for the few remaining cats not gathered in the clearing to escape their dens. "As you can tell by now," the ginger and black leader meowed. "Our attack on WindClan was a complete success, and we were able to rescue Aspenkit from those evil cats' clutches."

Yowls of satisfaction and approval rang around the clearing, finally ceasing when Blazestar held up his tail for silence. "In honor of this momentous and victorious occasion, I believe that it is well past time to award three brave apprentices their warrior names. Rufflepaw, Flamepaw, Wonderpaw, please step forward."

The three shocked apprentices padded towards the Highledge, taking a seat at the foot of the rocks leading up to it, too stunned to say a word.

"I, Blazestar," he began, "leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Rufflepaw, Flamepaw, Wonderpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." They all meowed simultaneously.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names." Blazestar jumped down from his perch, standing in front of the three cats. "Flamepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Flamelick. StarClan honors your bravery and honesty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.

"Wonderpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Wonderstrength. StarClan honors your kindness and cleverness and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.

"Rufflepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Ruffleslash. StarClan honors your courage and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

The clan cheered as the new warriors each licked Blazestar's shoulder respectively as he laid his muzzle on the tops of their heads.

It all happened in a haze for Aspenkit; she wasn't paying attention. She was too busy searching the crowd of on looking warriors for a certain cat.

She stared around the clearing as the cats called out Flamelick, Wonderstrength, and Ruffleslash's names, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see the missing cat.

She finally ran up to Glacierfire, staring into her big blue-green eyes. "Mom, where's Poolkit?"

The tabby queen stiffened at the question, looking over at Emeraldsong. The white she-cat just stifled a sob, turning, and disappeared inside of the nursery.

Glacierfire looked back at the innocent little cat. There was no sugar coating the truth. She took a deep breath, exhaling, and looking straight into her daughter's eyes before she told her the news that shattered the kit's life forever.

"Poolkit's dead."

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **Ooooh! Cliffhanger-ish thing! Muchos yass!**

 **And 1919 words! Booyah!**

 ** _OKAY PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ THIS!_** **There is a poll on my profile page that I need u to vote on! Its super important for the future of the story! It wont take long, it's a yes or no poll! So please! Vote! Only 2 people have and it's a tie right now, so yeah!**

 **Also, im sorry to say, but I am going to have to start updating once every 2 days instead of once a day! I have school now and A LOT of homework! It's the worst, but I have to do it if I ever want to grow up and be an author :) so just letting u know! Im sorry! I may get to updating once a day every now and then, tho, so at least there's that!**

 **QOTDT: who has the best warriors name out of Flamelick, Wonderstrength, and Ruffleslash? Who has the best out of ALL of the clans?**

 **Thnx for reading! Will update soon!**


	14. It Begins

**MWAHAHAHAHAHA I HOPE THIS CHAP IS AS GOOD AS THE LAST ONE!**

. . . ….. . . .

Glacierfire gasped as her kit's eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground, passing out cold. The queen hurried over to her kit, licking her fur in panic, pelt bristling in fear.

By now, the rest of the clan had turned their attentions from the three new warriors, gasping in turn as their eyes fell on the unconscious tabby kit.

"Wingfeather!" Blazestar yowled, bounding over to Aspenkit, sniffing her pelt. "Get over here!"

The white and cream she-cat popped her head out of her den, her amber eyes widening as they fell on Aspenkit.

"Out of the way!" she yelled at the cats, who were all huddled in a group, peeking over the heads of others in their attempts to see the black and silver kit.

Wingfeather pushed her way through the group, swishing her tail through the air as she reached Aspenkit, widening the space around her. "Give her some space!"

She turned to Glacierfire and Aspenkit, trying to get to the little cat through the frightened mother. She tried to push her out of the way, but Glacierfire just snapped at her, tail fluffing up in fear, fur bristling in desperation.

The queen hissed as a cat's tail landed on her shoulder, but her eyes widened in relief when she saw that it was her mate, Smokeleg. Gently, he wrapped his tail around her shoulder, guiding her away from the form of their kit. Glacierfire sighed, looking at Smokeleg fearfully as she let herself be drawn away.

Wingfeather stood over Aspenkit, narrowing her eyes as she inspected her pelt, licking it quickly and steadily.

She pressed her ear to the chest of the kit, and then drew back quickly, giving a sigh of comfort. "She'll be fine. She just passed out. But what happened?"

"Well," Glacierfire started, "She just came up to me and asked me where Poolkit was—" Blazestar stiffened at that. "—so I told her, and she passed out! Will she be okay? When will she be better?"

Smokeleg rested his tail on her shoulder again. "She'll be better soon. Don't worry. She'll be back to normal in no time."

Wingfeather nodded. "Right. Now will one of you take her to my den? She'll need a quarter moon or so to recover, but after that, she can go back to her usual, happy self."

Glacierfire nodded sadly as she followed her mate, who was carrying the still form of Aspenkit towards the medicine cat dens.

Wingfeather watched them go. In the back of her mind, a tiny . . . thought nagged at her, a tiny claw, scratching at the tree bark of her brain. A small doubt was forming in her mind.

 _Back to her normal self . . . ._ She replayed the thought in her mind. Something was telling her that maybe, possibly, that wasn't quite true.

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit opened her eyes, seeing a wide open moor spread out in front of her. She stood up timidly, ears pressed against her head. She gazed around, scared, but straightened out when she saw that there was nothing to fear.

A strong wind whipped through her fur. She closed her eyes, enjoying the breeze. She opened her eyes again, Wolfkit and Spikekit now standing in front of her.

"Come on, Aspenkit!" Wolfkit purred, his brother smiling and nodding, tail waving excitedly. "Let's go!"

Aspenkit grinned. "Sure! But where?"

Spikekit's fur lifted angrily as Wolfkit's face contorted wildly, turning into a wicked scowl. Aspenkit's eyes widened in surprise and fear, her ears flattening again.

The two brothers prowled forward, now looming over Aspenkit menacingly. "To the border."

The whole scene changed and Aspenkit was standing on the side of a river, windswept grass all around her. Rain crashed down, the dark world only ever lighting up when bolts of lightning flashed across the sky. Aspenkit realized with a jolt where, or rather when, she was.

Aspenkit was standing on the WindClan side of the river separating ThunderClan from the moor territory. It was the night that she, Whiskerkit, Shinekit, Batkit, and Poolkit had gone off on their mission.

And that was when she remembered. There was no Poolkit anymore. She was dead.

Her heart clenched as a lightning bolt lit up the night sky and she saw five furry forms huddled on a huge tree balanced across the raging stream. The soaking kits shivered and shuddered as they clung to the tree.

Aspenkit watched them all, Whiskerkit, Shinekit, Batkit, heart wrenchingly Poolkit, and, oddly enough, herself.

She gazed at herself, awestruck, as the other her let out a terrified screech. Aspenkit's eyes snapped to the right, her heart seizing up in fear once again as she saw the massive wall of water throw itself at the horror filled kits. Aspenkit looked once more at Poolkit, her heart aching, before the giant mass of water swallowed the cats up.

She screwed her eyes shut, trying desperately to drown out the shrieks of the cats. But they didn't stop. They just repeated and repeated, on and on and on.

She opened her eyes again, Wolfkit and Spikekit standing in front of her again.

"It was _your_ fault!" they growled in unison. " _You_ killed Poolkit!"

Aspenkit's eyes widened again. "No, no I didn't!"

They just laughed at her, their faces scrunching up in their malice filled humor.

Wolfkit leaned in towards her, his normally pleasant and kind face distorted. "Yes. You did."

Spikekit smirked, his eyes narrowed in happy contempt. "If you hadn't given them the idea to sneak out, Poolkit would never have been killed."

They howled in laughter again, moving closer to each other until their pelts were touching. Then, in the blink of an eye, their pelts melded together and the brothers disappeared altogether, being replaced with the chuckling form of Thornstar.

The WindClan leader laughed evilly at the cowering form of Aspenkit. "You stupid little kit!" he spat. "You ruined the life of an innocent cat! Now she will never grow up to be a warrior of ThunderClan!" He laughed again, leaning in towards the tabby kit. "You. Are. A. MURDERER!" He roared the last word, his fur rising in his wicked pleasure. "You are the lowest of the low! You are worse than any cat before you! You don't deserve to go back to the way you were!"

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit lurched awake, screeching, and was met by the shrieking, leaping form of Wingfeather. The white and cream she-cat settled down again, panting, recovering from the sudden, surprising outburst from the silver and black kit.

Wingfeather exhaled loudly. "You scared me half to death, Aspenkit! Thank StarClan you're okay, but what happened?"

Aspenkit ignored the medicine cat, stumbling out of her nest and blundering out into the clearing. Looking around, she saw the other cats staring at her curiously.

But they weren't themselves. Every cat, big or small, had the same body and pelt that they usually had, but their faces were replaced with Poolkit's. Her face moved in accordance with the cat's that it was on, but it was definitely the deceased she-cat. They all stared down at her, confused, scared, angry, oblivious.

"Why, Aspenkit?"

Each voice spoke, Poolkit's distinctive voice ringing around inside of Aspenkit's head, reverberating loudly, bouncing off of every nook and cranny in her brain.

"Why did you do it?"

"I'll never be a ThunderClan warrior!"

"I won't see my family for ages!"

"StarClan save me!"

"It's your fault!"

"Your fault!"

"YOUR FAULT!"

Aspenkit shrank to the ground, squeezing her eyes shut, pressing her paws to her ears in an attempt to block out the noise. The voices kept coming, though, getting louder and louder.

Her eyes opened slightly and she saw Glacierfire and Smokeleg rushing towards her, their Poolkit faces creased in fear. As they drew nearer, the voices got even louder.

Aspenkit shrank back, trying desperately to avoid any cats. She had finally pressed her back against the camp wall, the Poolkits crowded around her, when another cat appeared in the crowd, his face the only one that still belonged to him.

"It was your fault," Thornstar snarled. "And now, your life will change forever."

Then Aspenkit let out an ear shattering screech and Thornstar's face turned into Poolkit's once again.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1401 words! Kinda short, but not bad**

 **Im REALLY sorry for not updating yesterday! Ive had hours of homework every day this week and its been KILLING me!**

 **Thnx to anyone who has reviewed! Remember, the more reviews I get, the more motivated I get, and the better the story is! So if u review, then ill repay u by making an INCREDIBLE story!**

 _ **DONT FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL! I REALLY NEED U TO VOTE ON IT!**_

 **QOTDT: whats ur least favorite name in thunderclan? In all of the clans? (2 diff questions XD)**

 **Thnx again! U guys r the best! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Byeeeeee!**


	15. Obliviously Insane

**This chapter is super fun! Not the longest, but one of the most exciting!**

. . . ….. . . .

"What do we do?" Glacierfire yelled to her mate, the only volume that could be heard over the shrieking of their daughter. Aspenkit screeched on and on, covering her little ears with her paws.

"I don't know!" Smokeleg meowed, fearfully glancing over at the kit. "But we have to help her!"

They ran towards her, but froze when she turned on them, fury blazing in her eyes. She snarled at them, her sharp teeth glinting in the sun.

"Get away from me!" Aspenkit hissed, fire alight in her eyes. "Stay away, you evil leader!"

Smokeleg and Glacierfire stepped back, confused and hurt. "Wha . . . ? Leader?"

"Don't act stupid!" the kit yelled. "You know what you did to me, you foxbreath! Stay away from me or you'll regret it!"

Glacierfire whimpered, cautiously taking a step forward. "Aspenkit?"

The black and silver duplicate of the queen cringed backwards, claws unsheathing. "I'm warning you, Thornstar!"

Smokeleg growled. "Thornstar." He lashed his tail in anger.

"I'll do more to you than Terror did the next time you mess with me!" Aspenkit growled.

"Aspenkit, it's me, Glacierfire!" The queen took another step forward.

Aspenkit let out a snarl and lunged at her mother. Her unsheathed claws ripped through the air, catching Glacierfire on the side of the head. The queen yelped in pain and surprise, blinking blood out of her eyes.

Blazestar jumped at Aspenkit, planting his large paw on her back, pressing her into the ground, just hard enough to keep her down. The little kit hissed and snarled, struggling wildly, her eyes alit with pure rage.

"You're dead, Thornstar!"

Blazestar bent over, whispering in her ear. "Aspenkit, calm down. You're safe. You're in ThunderClan."

"I will never be safe as long as you prowl through the clans!" the little kit spat, saliva and foam flying from her jaws.

Smokeleg helped his mate to her paws, the both of them staring at their kit in horror. "What's wrong with her?"

Before anyone could answer, the kit stopped struggling underneath Blazestar's paw. Her eyes grew wide, the blue-green irises growing until they were wider than the moon itself.

"No," she whispered, shrinking under her pelt. "No, no! Stay away!"

Blazestar took his paw off of her, too stunned to do much else. As soon as she was free from his grasp, she raced away from the crowd, pressing against the thorn barrier.

"Stay away!" she yelped, flinging an unsheathed paw at the open air in front of her. "Go away!"

The entirety of the clan was outside now, all except Emeraldsong and the other kits. Their eyes were trained on the screeching cat, different emotions in every pair. They drank in the surroundings around them, watching the drama play out, some cats confused, some scared, some wanting, no, needing to tear their gaze away from the scene but unable to. Aspenkit kept on with her insane breakdown.

The kit's entire scared demeanor changed. She snarled again, going back to the furious animal she was before. "You devil, you fox, badger breath! I hate you! I don't care what I have to do to keep away from you! I will slaughter you, will torture you until you beg for mercy from StarClan above!"

ThunderClan shrank back in unison, not believing anything that was playing out around them. What was wrong with the normally perky and beloved kit?

Aspenkit flung out her paw one last time before flopping to the ground, panting. She looked up at the cats around her, eyes shining in loathing.

"I'm warning you," she snarled. Her eyes went up in flames as she stared at the cats in hatred.

She looked up at Glacierfire and Smokeleg one last time, her eyes reverting back to normal for a single moment. They widened as they connected with her parents', desperately pleading.

Her jaws opened in a muted screech, then silently mouthed two words, words directed at her parents. "Help me." With that, Aspenkit fell completely still.

The clearing went utterly silent. The only sound heard was the breathing of the cats and the far off tweeting of the forest birds. Everyone was stunned, mouths agape. No one could believe the outburst that had just happened in front of their eyes.

Wonderstrength finally broke the silence. "What. Was. That?"

Wingfeather bit her lip, not knowing the answer. "I'm not sure."

"She said something about Thornstar," Blazestar growled, eyes narrowed into slits. "I knew that code breaker would hurt her."

"So what do we do?" Glacierfire asked, ears pressed flat to her head.

Wingfeather sighed. "Well, it's going to take longer than a quarter moon for her to go back to normal."

"If she does at all," Blazestar growled, tail lashing, still infuriated.

Glacierfire gasped, pressing herself up against Smokeleg. "She will get better, won't she?"

"Yes, definitely!" Wingfeather meowed. "It will just take some time. Take her to my den, Glacierfire, and wait for me; I'll give you something for the cut on your face."

The queen padded away sadly, Aspenkit dangling from her jaws, and the rest of the clan broke up, gossiping about the little kit's breakdown.

The medicine cat turned to Smokeleg after the others had dissipated around the clearing. "Okay, I was lying."

Smokeleg blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I don't think that Aspenkit will get better soon," Wingfeather admitted. "I've never seen this before. Usually, cats get depressed when someone dies, but they don't do . . . well, what she did. I doubt that she'll get over Poolkit's death as quickly and normally as others do." Her eyes narrowed in thought. "Besides, going off of what she had said, I don't think that was just because of Poolkit's death. There's more to it than I would've thought."

"So?" Smokeleg said. "Yes, that might be true, there may be more to it than that, but that doesn't mean anything! You're not completely sure that she won't get better."

"I'm not," she agreed. "But I'm not going to get my hopes up. I suggest you don't let yours raise either." With that, the cream and white she-cat stalked over to her den, disappearing into the herb smelling room.

Smokeleg snarled under his breath, tail lashing in anger. He prowled across the clearing, stopping over by the warriors den, his narrowed eyes still watching the medicine cat den. "I don't care what you say. She will get better."

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit woke up, eyes blinking sleepily. She looked around at the den around her, surprised to see no one there.

She stepped out of her nest, stretching each leg in turn. Aspenkit sheathed and unsheathed her claws, frowning in confusion at the silver and black fur stuck in between some of them. She shrugged it off. She had probably scratched herself in her sleep.

Stepping out into the clearing, Aspenkit blinked as a collective gasp rang around the clearing. Every cat's eyes were trained on her, staring and unblinking.

Aspenkit's pelt burned as she made her way over to the freshkill pile. The eyes followed her.

 _What's up with them?_ she thought as she grabbed a mouse from the pile. _Do I have something on my face or something?_

She padded over to the nursery. She might as well share the meal with the other kits.

She ducked inside of the den, blinking to get her eyes to adjust to the dark room. "Whiskerkit? Shinekit, Batkit? Do you guys want to share a mouse?"

A piece of moss was flung at her harshly from the side of the den. Aspenkit yowled as it hit her on the side of the head, rubbing the spot with her soft paw as she turned, confused, to see who had bombarded her.

She was surprised to see Emeraldsong, hissing and snarling at her. "Go away, you possessed savage!"

Aspenkit flinched. What was that supposed to mean?

"Umm, I-i was just wondering if I could share this mouse with Whiskerkit, Shinekit, and Bat—"

"Never!" the white queen snarled. "Get out of here, before I make you leave!"

Aspenkit hurried out of the nursery before Emeraldsong could do anything to her, dropping the mouse back on the pile. Her appetite was gone.

What was wrong with everyone? Why were they shunning her? She hadn't done anything to them!

Or had she? Aspenkit racked her brain, desperately trying to think of a reason for why the clan was acting so odd. But try as she might, she couldn't remember anything after waking up the morning before. Or at least the last morning that she remembered . . . .

She raced over to Wonderstrength and Flamelick, who were sharing a sparrow by the warriors den. They cringed as she approached, looking at each other with unreadable expressions.

"You guys?" she started. "What's going on? Why is no one talking to me? Why is everyone staring at me?"

"You-you don't remember?" Wonderstrength stuttered.

Aspenkit shook her head. "No, obviously not, but what do I not remember?"

Wonderstrength looked down awkwardly, leaving her brother to answer. "Well, you kind of . . . you kind of, um, went insane a quarter moon ago."

"A quarter moon ago?!" Aspenkit gaped. "I went insane? What?"

"You attacked Glacierfire and said you'd slaughter . . . someone if they didn't leave you alone."

Aspenkit stumbled away from the siblings. "I-i-i don't . . . what? I . . . I need to clear my head!"

Before anyone could stop her, she pelted away from the cats, everyone's gazes still trained on her. She ran through the thorn barrier and burst out into the forest, the lack of noise behind her telling the little tabby kit that no one was following her.

She had gone insane? Why couldn't she remember that? She had hurt her mother?

 _No,_ she thought. _No. No, I would never! I would never hurt Glacierfire, sane or otherwise!_

She zoomed through the forest, the shadows falling on her pelt, the patterns not distracting her in the way they had when she had journeyed out of camp before.

She finally collapsed at the WindClan border, panting alone in the shade of a tree.

She sobbed quietly as she watched the river flow by. She had been unconscious for a quarter moon? But how? Why?

She couldn't be insane! She couldn't be! She was a normal, regular, fun kit! Her life couldn't be ruined at the age of practically two moons!

She sighed sadly as she rested her head on her paws. There was nothing wrong with her. She was convinced of it. She'd go straight back to camp and convince the rest of the clan, too.

She had finally built up enough confidence and courage to stand up, and was about to head back towards the clan camp when a familiar voice stopped her.

"Small world, Aspenkit."

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1811 words! Not super long, but still good!**

 **Cliffhanger kind of! Was this a good chapter? The first part was SUPER fun to write! I hope you enjoyed reading it!**

 **DO NOT FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! ITS SUPER IMPORTANT FOR THE ENDING OF THIS STORY!**

 **QOTDT: who was the cat that said "small world, Aspenkit" at the end of this chapter?**

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	16. The Surprise Meeting

**Here u go! Another chap!**

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit whipped around, mouth agape as she stared across the river and into the gleaming blue eyes of one of her best friends. "Wolfkit!"

The grey and brown tabby tom purred at her surprise. "Hi, Aspenkit! It's been a while!"

She huffed, amused. "It's only been a half moon! That's not that long!"

Wolfkit shrugged. "It's seemed longer."

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Aspenkit meowed. "But how did you sneak out of camp?"

He sat up proudly, puffing out his tiny, fluffy chest. "I found a hole in the nursery wall. Now I can leave basically whenever I want to, as long as Goldspark and Hedgeleaf don't find out."

He tilted his head in confusion. "But how did _you_ get out of your camp? Wouldn't the warriors be extra cautious in making sure you didn't sneak out again?"

Aspenkit bit her lip. She didn't want to tell him about her apparent insane breakdown. But what else would she tell him?

"Um," she started. "I, uhh, Smokeleg took me out here for a walk. He went off to hunt and he told me to try to catch something on my own."

Aspenkit held her breath, preparing herself for his accusation that she was lying, but he only nodded. "Cool. I wish we were allowed out of camp more."

His eyes suddenly grew round and sad, their blue depths filling to the brim with melancholy. "Spikekit and I miss you. We wish you were still in WindClan with us."

Aspenkit sighed. "I miss you guys too. But I don't want to go back to WindClan as long as Thornstar is there."

Wolfkit's gaze filled with hurt, but was quickly replaced with understanding. "I get that. He did threaten to hurt you."

 _Yeah,_ Aspenkit thought menacingly. _Only threatened to. . . ._

"So what's been going on in WindClan since I left?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well," Wolfkit mewed. "After that one she-cat came in and killed Willowbreath and took one of Thornstar's lives, we've been a bit more jumpy than usual. Thornstar's been having the warriors and apprentices practice battle moves more than ever."

Aspenkit shuddered underneath her pelt. "I'm sorry."

Wolfkit shrugged lazily. "It's not your fault, but I still wish we had a different leader. Or at least one who wasn't as harsh as him."

Aspenkit frowned. "Who did he appoint as the new deputy?"

Wolfkit growled, his small claws sheathing and unsheathing, tearing up the ground beneath them. "Ropetail."

Aspenkit flinched. She hadn't really gotten to know the cat all that much, but she did know that he was a horrible tom, almost as bad as Thornstar himself. If he ended up being the next leader of the moor clan, then the dark times they presided in wouldn't get much lighter.

"Ooh," she whispered. "I hope things will start to turn around for you guys."

"Yeah," Wolfkit muttered. "Me too."

The two kits sat in silence for a while, one on the WindClan side of the river, the other on the ThunderClan half. Aspenkit looked up at the sky, seeing the sun resting overhead in the clouds above. She swallowed nervously. This was when the border patrol made one of their rounds.

"Wolfkit, I'd better go," she said. "A patrol is going to be coming here soon, and if they see you, they'll tell WindClan and you won't be able to sneak out anymore."

Wolfkit nodded, sad that he'd have to leave Aspenkit so soon. "Okay, but will you meet me here again?"

Aspenkit's eyes widened. "Sure, but when?"

"Tomorrow night! I'll wait for you here!" With that, the little tom ran away from the river, his bobbing tail the only thing visible over the tall grasses that were incasing him in their hidden world.

Aspenkit sat there, still shocked about what had just happened. Of course she'd meet him, but wasn't it against the warrior code?

 _So what?_ A voice in her head meowed. _You're not a warrior._

Aspenkit frowned. That was true . . . .

The sound of rustling leaves broke her out of her thoughts and she flung herself into a bramble bush in the exact moment that a ThunderClan patrol stepped out of the bushes, only a foxlength away from Aspenkit.

The silver and black tabby kit opened her jaws in a soundless wail of pain. The brambles were tearing at her skin, ripping out clumps of her fur. But she didn't dare make a sound. If the warriors saw her, then there would be no possible way for her to meet Wolfkit the next night. So she clamped her jaws shut, begging the border patrol to leave.

The patrol was made up of Flamelick, Sweetfang, and Geckostripe. The three cats made their way along the border, stopping to mark it every few tail lengths.

Flamelick froze in the spot where Aspenkit had been sitting moments ago. He pressed his muzzle to the ground, inhaling sharply. Aspenkit's heart stopped as he let out a low growl.

"Hey, it smells like Aspenkit's been here pretty recently."

Geckostripe padded over to where he was, sniffing the ground and grunting. "Aspenkit's been here many times over the past moon. I wouldn't get my fur ruffled over it."

Flamelick snorted. "I guess. What was up with that outburst a few days ago?"

Sweetfang turned to them, ears down. "I don't know, but it was weird. She must have taken Poolkit's death pretty seriously."

"Yeah," Geckostripe meowed. "Not even Emeraldsong has been that messed up about it, and she hasn't eaten for days!"

"Besides," Flamelick said, trying to add some hope to the situation. "We don't even know for sure that she's dead!"

Aspenkit almost gasped aloud at that. What did he mean that they 'didn't know for sure?'

"I mean, we never found a body or anything!" the ginger tom said. "We've just been assuming that she was carried out into the lake and drowned!"

"Well, yeah," Sweetfang mewed, "but we searched for her for a quarter moon! She was nowhere on the ground, and she hadn't been swept into the trees by the water like Shinekit and Batkit."

"And If she had been washed into another clan's territory, we would've heard about it by now," Geckostripe added. "There aren't many other options left."

He nudged Flamelick lightly with his head, eyes filled with a sad but light humor. "Everyone knows you're holding on to hope because you had a crush on her!"

Flamelick shrugged him off, head hanging. "I don't know. You're right, though. If she was alive, we would have her back by now."

The patrol padded on, their once happy mood now turned blue. They continued their checking and marking of the border, no one actually paying attention to the task.

Aspenkit waited until the three cats had disappeared from sight before she struggled out of the brambles, leaving half of her pelt behind. Once she was out of it, panting from the pain and exhaustion, she made her way back towards the ThunderClan camp.

She walked through the woods, thinking about everything that she had just heard. Then it was true. Poolkit had died because of her. It was all her fault. She could never save the little kit now.

Aspenkit walked through the camp entrance, the far off voices returning to her mind, beginning their choir of mad songs once again.

. . . ….. . . .

Wolfkit squeezed through the hole in the nursery wall, seeing the same scenario that he had left that morning: a deserted, plain old den.

He shook out his pelt as he stepped into the nursery, dragging a small pile of brambles in front of the hole, all the while wondering where his brother was. Should he tell him that he had seen Aspenkit?

Just the thought of her name made him happy. She was one of his closest friends, aside from Spikekit, of course. He sighed, truly wishing that they could be in the same clan. Stupid Thornstar.

He made his way out of the nursery, taking a deep breath as he was met with the oh so familiar view of WindClan cats working themselves ragged in the dusty clearing. Cats rushed about, looking half asleep, preparing themselves for the horrible patrols of midday. The sun floated high in the sky, its cold, leafbare rays doing no good to warm the frozen warriors' pelts.

Wolfkit scanned the clearing, finally seeing his brother talking to their father, Hedgeleaf.

Wolfkit padded up to them, his father flicking his tail as he saw him. "Hi, Wolfkit."

"Hey!" the kit greeted, more enthusiastic than the brown and grey tom. "What patrol are you going on right now?"

Hedgeleaf sniffed, clawing the ground with one extended claw. "I'm going to lead a battle practice with all of the apprentices and their mentors. Thornstar's orders."

Wolfkit stifled the shiver that ran through his pelt at their leader's name. "Nice! Will you teach me and Spikekit some moves when you get back?"

"No," the warrior answered immediately. "You'll have to wait until you're an apprentice."

Wolfkit's ears drooped sadly. "Oh, okay. I'll see you later, Hedgeleaf."

The two kits padded away as their father, Cornpaw, Nettlepaw, Freezepaw, and their mentors padded out of camp and up the slope towards what had to be the training hollow.

"So . . ." Spikekit started. "Where have you been all day?"

Wolfkit bit his lip, looking around the clearing before shoving his brother into the nursery, which was still abandoned. Spikekit yowled in surprise, but silenced himself when Wolfkit's tail slapped across his mouth.

When the two were both safely inside of the nursery, the golden and brown tom turned to his brother, complete confusion written on his face. "Okay, what was that all about?"

Wolfkit stepped past him, standing next to the pile of brambles that concealed the hole in the wall. "I'll tell you where I've been, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anybody!"

Spikekit snorted, amusement lighting up his eyes. "As if you have to ask me not to tell anyone! Of course I won't, you know that!"

Wolfkit nodded. With a kick of his forepaw, he moved the brambles away from the nursery wall, revealing a small hole. "I found a way to leave the camp!"

Spikekit's eyes widened in excitement. "Cool! I've always wanted to leave camp! But where did you go?"

Wolfkit sat down, wrapping his tail around his paws. "You'll never believe it! I went by the ThunderClan border, you know, just to see the river, when I saw Aspenkit! We talked for a long time, but she had to leave when a border patrol came by. But I still got to see her! It was so cool!"

"You what?!" Spikekit exclaimed, fur standing on end, face scrunched up in an uncharacteristic, mad expression. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to go? Don't you know I would've wanted to go with you?"

Wolfkit blinked in surprise as his brother shrieked on. "And I can't believe you saw Aspenkit without me! We're all friends but you didn't take me with you!"

The golden and brown tom lashed his tail in annoyance and disbelief. Wolfkit didn't say anything, waiting for his brother to calm down. "Spikekit, it's okay! I told her to meet us by the border tomorrow night!"

Spikekit's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Us?"

Wolfkit swallowed nervously. "Yes, us! We're both going!"

Spikekit stayed quiet, not saying a word. Wolfkit watched him, his stomach in a knot, until he finally nodded. "Fine. I'll go. But don't try hiding things from me." His eyes softened. "I just . . . I want to stay friends with Aspenkit, too."

With that, the little kit padded out of the nursery, his hindquarters disappearing as Wolfkit let out a sigh of relief.

Wolfkit's eyes stayed trained on the spot where his brother had been as he moved the brambles back over the hole. What had gotten his brother in a bad mood? He sniffed, deciding to overlook it. His brother was always happy; it must have been a bad day for him.

Wolfkit padded out into the WindClan clearing once again, his heart soaring despite the recent happenings. No one could ruin his day. As long as he kept Aspenkit in mind, it was impossible for him to think of anything but her. And he intended to think of the black and silver tabby kit for as long as he could.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2090 words! Noice!**

 **Not much to say about this chap, stuff happened. But it was a meh-ish big chapter! They'll start to see each other!**

 **And old Spikekit got pretty mad. And he's usually pretty levelheaded. What. Will. HAPPEN?!**

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	17. The Beginnings of an Evil Plan

**OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG IM SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY THAT I HAVENT UPDATED IN SO LONG! PLS PLS PLS PLS PLS FORGIVE ME! PLEASE?!**

 **AND OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG I GOT SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MANY REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER 16! IM UP TO LIKE 116 NOW IM LIKE ***high, girlish shriek***! U GUYS R THE BEST READERS/REVIEWERS EEEEEVVVVVEEEERRRRRRR! THIS IS Y I LOVE U SO MUCH! EEEEEEEH! U GUYS ROCK!**

 **K, I hope u like this chap! Its somewhat short, but it gets kinda intense-ish! Enjoy!**

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit peered out from beneath her hiding bush, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see any moving form in the tall grasses of WindClan. The moon shone above her, beaming down into the small clearing in between the river and the ThunderClan tree line where she lay in wait.

 _Where is he?_ she thought, worry starting to sprout in her stomach. _He told me to meet him here tonight. Did he get caught? Is he okay?_

She took a deep breath. _Of course he's okay! He's Wolfkit! He's fine, just don't think about it._

"Easier said than done," she muttered to herself, but forced herself to think of something else anyways.

That wasn't hard to do. Ever since she had gotten back to the ThunderClan camp the day before, she couldn't get some thoughts out of her head. Literally. She would try her hardest, would try to shut them out, but they would stay in her brain, clamped around it in their death grip. Sometimes the voices would be too present to ignore, sometimes they would be quiet enough to push to the back of her mind. Either way, they were there all of the time.

She didn't know what they were; all that she knew was that they were malicious, evil words that could spike any normal cat through the heart with a single syllable. They accused her, tortured her. They all screamed at her, saying that it was her fault that Poolkit had . . .

No, it wasn't her fault! She had to believe that!

 _But if it's not your fault,_ a voice in her head hissed, _then who's is it?_ The question stopped her in her tracks. She didn't know the answer to it.

A stirring of the windswept grass on the other side of the stream caught her eye, fortunately interrupting her thoughts before they went too much further. As she watched, two kits slunk out from the grass and into the moonlight, which created a dark silhouette of them on the dusty floor of the riverside. They crept to the side of the water, eyes flicking across the border and connecting with the blue green ones that sat in wait.

"Aspenkit?" a voice rang out, quiet as it was. "Is that you?"

"Yeah!" she replied, relieved. "I'm glad you made it alright! I thought that you had gotten caught."

A different voice purred. "No, we're fine! It's great to see you, Aspenkit!"

 _That must be Spikekit!_ She smiled warmly at the thought of another one of her friends. It had been a while since they had last talked.

Wolfkit and Spikekit padded into the river warily, their gasps of shock that came from the icy water reverberating around the clearing. They waded through nonetheless, biting their tongues to keep from squealing from the cold. They finally reached the other side, shaking out their pelts as they crossed into ThunderClan territory.

Aspenkit squeezed out of the bush, grinning widely as she came face to face with the WindClan toms. "Wolfkit! Spikekit! How are you guys?"

The toms purred, greeting Aspenkit with flicks of their ears. "Great!" Wolfkit answered. "It's been pretty lonely without you. I've only had _this_ rabbit brain to play with." he added teasingly.

Spikekit's eyes blinked in mock surprise and hurt. "How could you say that? I'm twice the cat you'll ever be!" He puffed out his chest fur proudly, the spikey tufts poofing up in front of his chin, making him look like a bird. "I'm going to be clan leader one day!"

Wolfkit snorted, playfully amused. "That'll be the day. But I suppose you couldn't be worse than Thornstar!"

Spikekit shrugged. "That's true." He turned to Aspenkit, all of his attention that was on Wolfkit switching to her. "So how has ThunderClan been?"

Aspenkit bit her lip. "Okay, I guess." She looked at her paws shamefully. "One of the kits, Poolkit, died, though, when we went to WindClan in secret."

The toms' mouths dropped open in shock. "What!?" They exclaimed in unison.

Aspenkit nodded, doing her best to blink tears from her eyes. "When we tried to cross back into ThunderClan, we were carried away by a wall of water. Everyone else made it, but she drowned." She sniffed sadly. "It was all my fault!" she wailed, voices in her head beginning to accuse her like before.

 _She was just a kit._

 _So innocent._

 _Had her whole life ahead of her._

 _Could've been a great ThunderClan warrior!_

 _It's all your fault._

 _You're disgusting._

 _If you had only followed the warrior code,_ the voice in her head snarled. _Then she would still be here in ThunderClan, safe and sound._

"Who are you?!" Aspenkit screeched at the voice. "What do you want with me?!"

She started screaming, flattening her ears to her head, trying to shut out the noise with her little paws pressed against her skull. They didn't help. The accusations kept flying at her, only getting louder and louder.

But then they started to ease off. That hadn't happened before. In the few madness fits that she had had, and that she had remembered, they had kept coming until she was unconscious. But now . . . .

She cautiously opened one eye, staring into the deep blue ones that belonged to Wolfkit. They were wide and anxious, fear alive in them, but what they were afraid of was unknown to Aspenkit. Of her? Of the insaneness that had just happened in front of them?

Aspenkit shrugged off his tail, which had come to rest on her shoulder. She looked away, trying to ignore the look of shock and horror on Spikekit's face.

She turned back when the silky tail wrapped around her neck, making her head look around again and stare into Wolfkit's eyes once more. There was no horror of disgust there, though. Just worry for her and her wellbeing.

"Aspenkit?" he mewed softly. "Are you okay?"

She sighed quietly. "Y-yeah. I'll be fine."

They sat there for a moment until Spikekit awkwardly padded over and sat on her other side, resting his head on his paws. Their once happy reunion had now turned melancholy, the two WindClan cats still confused about what had happened but too polite to ask.

The kits finally had to break up as the faintest of lights began to dance on the horizon. Aspenkit sighed sadly, not wanting to leave her friends. Yes, they hadn't done much but sit around and enjoy each other's company, but it was still nice to have been with them.

Aspenkit watched the two toms as they waded through the river once again and stood on the WindClan side of the border. They started walking back through the grasses, but not before Wolfkit could turn around, raising his tail in farewell, and mouth one more thing to the forest kit before he disappeared along with his brother:

"Meet me here tomorrow night again."

. . . ….. . . .

A cat looked down at Aspenkit as she turned from the WindClan cats and padded into the woods. The cat growled softly, swishing her tail over her paws before standing up and padding away from her lookout point.

Funny how she could have gone to WindClan and messed up SO many things in the process but still get friends out of it. It was obvious that she was one of the most spoiled cats in all of ThunderClan; of course she wouldn't've been punished for all she had done! Instead, she was _pitied_ for her insane breakdowns and mental issues.

 _Well,_ the cat thought as she padded deeper into the forest, _I can't let that continue, now can I?_

She smiled wickedly as a plan hatched in her brain. Oh, she would nurture the kit's guilt for what she had done, nursing it until it was more than just the occasional breakdown or two. The kit would pay for what she had cost her. She didn't care what she had to do or how long it would take. Time wasn't an issue for her; she was dead, anyways.

 _She'll wish she never came up with the idea to go into WindClan's territory. I'll make sure of that._

 _. . . ….. . . ._

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1377 words. Kinda short, but pretty interesting…..well, I think.**

 **Did u like it? I hope u liked it! And those last few paragraphs?! EEEEEEHHHHHHH! Sooooooo Halloween-y-ish!**

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 **QOTDT: who was the she-cat at the end of this chapter that was plotting something?**

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	18. Apprenticed at Last

**Hey! They're finally made apprentices in this chapter! Sorry that it took so long to happen XD XD XD !**

 **. . . . .**

Aspenkit smiled as she pushed her way through the bushes and saw the now familiar sight of Spikekit and Wolfkit sitting and waiting for her. They two toms purred when they saw her, leaping over to her as she approached. They rubbed against each other as they always did when they met, the glittering moon high above them, directly overhead.

It had been four and a half moons since the three had first met in secret. Since then, it had only gotten harder and harder to get out of camp unnoticed, so their moonhigh meetings were now few and widely spread apart. This was the first time Aspenkit had seen her WindClan friends in over half a moon. They didn't like that their meetings were so short-lived and infrequent, but it was what had to be done so that they could meet at all.

The four moons that had passed had been quite eventful, though. Not only had the kits grown a considerable amount, but they had also gotten much stronger. Spikekit and Wolfkit had now grown until they were at least twice as tall as before, not to mention twice as strong. They were as tall as apprentices, which was a good thing because it wouldn't be long until all three of them would be given new names and mentors.

Aspenkit hadn't grown as much as the other two, but she had definitely changed in ways. She was sleeker than before, almost all of her kit fur having been replaced with sleek, silky fur. She had gotten taller, too, and her back was now up to her mother's belly fur.

All of these things were good. But they were just about the only good things that had happened in the past four moons. Thornstar had gotten more violent and chaotic, already having attacked both RiverClan and ThunderClan at least twice each. The last time that the clan had "paid ThunderClan a visit," they had tried to capture Aspenkit yet again, but they nursery had thankfully been heavily protected and no moor cat had made it in.

Aspenkit's insane breakdowns hadn't got much better, either. In fact, they had only gotten worse. Nothing else had happened during them, nothing but the voices and the constant accusations that they threw at Aspenkit. As much as she expected herself to, she never got used to them. There was just something about the eerie voices that sent a shiver down her pelt every time they rang out in her skull. It didn't matter how many times it happened, the voices always made her want to rip out her heart so that she could just live in StarClan in peace.

There was only one antidote to the harsh thoughts: Wolfkit. He was the only cat that made her feel happy, or, dare she say, sane. Whenever she was with him, the voices left her alone. He made them go away, leave her mind for the time being. Yes, they wouldn't leave for good, but Aspenkit was just glad that they left her alone for even a short amount of time.

The black and silver tabby didn't exactly know what it was about him that made the voices disappear, but she knew that it was something good. She didn't know exactly what made him tolerate her insaneness, but that it was a part of what made him a great friend.

That was something that almost no one in ThunderClan possessed, the ability to look past what Aspenkit had become and to see the real her. No one would talk to her except for a select few. Not even Blazestar would talk to her, instead just avoiding eye contact whenever she was nearby. Aspenkit didn't know whether or not it was because he blamed her for his daughter's death or if it was because she was crazy.

 _It's the insane that run the world._

Aspenkit shook her head as Thornstar's words popped into her mind, shuddering at the dark leader's earlier statement, finally going back to her train of thought.

It was like the clan had just accepted that she was insane and that no one could help her. So no one thought about her, no one looked at her, and no one _ever_ talked to her. That was just how it was. The only cats that would still speak to her, or really give her any attention, were Smokeleg, Glacierfire, Whiskerkit, Shinekit, Batkit, Wonderstrength, and oddly enough, Terror.

Aspenkit was shocked that the black and grey she-cat would be one of the few that talked to her, especially since she was proving to be one of the more popular cats in the clan. She hadn't been fully accepted into ThunderClan yet, though, because Blazestar had said that she had to stay in the clan for six moons, earning their trust and proving her loyalty. When those moons were up, then the leader would decide if she would be allowed to stay in the clan.

But the cat had already gained everyone's trust. Well, everyone's but Blazestar's, at least. Everyone always wanted to be sent on patrol with her, wanted to practice battle moves with her, and wanted to do basically everything with her. Which was why they were always surprised when they saw her talking to the little cast out, Aspenkit. Why would she talk to the freak show? Why not stay with them and be cool?

Aspenkit would wonder the same things. She supposed that Terror bothered talking to her because she had saved the kit's life, which was obviously a pretty big deal, even if no one cared anymore if the little kit was alive or otherwise. But Aspenkit wasn't complaining; she liked it when Terror, or any cat, really, would talk to her. It didn't happen too often.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted the two WindClan toms. "How are things?"

"Good!" Spikekit answered, stepping in front of his brother. "We're going to be made apprentices soon!" He bounced on his paws, excited.

Aspenkit jumped up. "Me, too! I can't wait! I wonder who my mentor will be!" She thought about her dream mentor, Pepperheart. She was praying to StarClan that Blazestar would assign the skilled tom to her.

Wolfkit grinned. "Yeah, I'm so excited! We're finally going to start to train to be made warriors!" He spun in a circle, adrenaline and happiness coursing through his veins.

He slowed down again, ears lowering. "Oh, yeah," he meowed, remembering. "Our mom saw us leaving today. She didn't say anything, but we should probably not meet for a while after tonight."

Aspenkit sighed. The two toms' mother, Goldspark, had caught them leaving a few times before, but had never tried to stop them. She didn't seem to care all that much about whether or not her kits stayed safe during the night, and judging from what Wolfkit and Spikekit had told her about him, Aspenkit didn't think their father, Hedgeleaf, cared any more.

"Okay," she mewed, reluctant. "But let's at least enjoy tonight."

The other two nodded, settling down in the grass.

"So how is ThunderClan?"

Aspenkit nodded. "Good. Skypaw and Fangpaw got their warrior names. They're now Skyheart and Fangshadow. Oh, and Toothshade moved into the nursery and is expecting Rockpelt's kits. Not much other than that, though."

Spikekit sneezed as a blade of grass snaked up his chest and tickled his nose. "Hey, Owlsoar moved into the nursery, too! I guess both of our clans are going to have new kits soon!"

"That's good!" Aspenkit's gaze darkened. "I just hope Thornstar won't use them to his advantage."

They sat in a dark silence until Wolfkit stood up. "We should go. Sorry that we have to leave so soon, I just don't want Goldspark to get too upset."

Aspenkit nodded, yawning. "It's okay. I'm a bit tired anyways, I'll see you guys another time."

They parted ways, Wolfkit raising his tail in his ritual goodbye to Aspenkit. She padded through the forest, deep in thought, eventually entering the camp through the dirtplace tunnel, avoiding any cats that were awake. She curled up in her nest, which was now overflowed with the two other six-moon-old kits and their mother.

She settled in, the voices returning to her mind once again, but she sighed contentedly anyways. Soon, she would be a ThunderClan apprentice.

. . . ….. . . .

The dead she-cat looked down on the clearing, hearing the little kit's last thoughts plain in her head before she drifted off to sleep. She purred maliciously as she saw a small smile spread across Aspenkit's face. She knew that she wouldn't, couldn't let it remain there.

The she-cat hadn't always been so evil. She used to be a happy she-cat, a positive, perky cat who brought a smile to anyone's face. Not anymore. It was all Aspenkit's fault that she was what she was now: a dead cat with no life ahead of her. She should have lived a much longer life, but she was dead now, all because of that slimy little rat.

 _I can't live my own life now,_ she thought to herself wickedly _. But I can still torture_ her's _. She'll pay. She'll pay for what she did to me. That's a promise._

. . . ….. . . .

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!"

Glacierfire squealed as she hurried her squeaky-clean kits out of the nursery, lovingly shoving them towards the base of the Highledge, where Batkit already sat in wait. It was finally here: their apprentice ceremony. Whiskerkit and Shinekit were bouncing excitedly, but Aspenkit just sat still. Something was holding her back from joining in with them in their ecstatic hops of joy. That something was guilt and pain.

This shouldn't've been happening without Poolkit. They shouldn't be there, excited to become apprentices, while Poolkit was gone. It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Aspenkit couldn't shove these thoughts out of her head, even when the entire clan had finally gathered, and even when Blazestar began his speech about how "the clan needs more warriors and new apprentices promise just that." She couldn't shove them out of her head because they were becoming more present, just like they always did when a breakdown was about to happen.

 _Please no!_ Aspenkit begged the head in her voice. _Not during this! Not during a ceremony!_

The specific voice that talked to her, for once, didn't respond. Instead, the many different voices in her head just got louder and louder as usual, driving her mad. She attempted to block them out, but, as usual, her efforts were fruitless.

She pressed her paws over her ears, but they just got louder. Then, just audible over the shrieks in her head, she heard one voice, a familiar one that only made Aspenkit more frightened.

"Aspenkit?"

It rang out in her mind, high pitched and pleading, desperation and sadness clear in every syllable. Aspenkit told herself it wasn't really, that if she ignored it, it would just go away. But it didn't.

"Aspenkit?" it repeated.

Slowly, as if not moving quickly would cause the owner of the voice to disappear, the silver and black kit turned to the cat that she knew was dead. But she stood there anyways, as vibrantly, heart wrenchingly real as she had been five moons before.

"Aspenkit?" Poolkit squeaked, eyes wide with pain. "Why did you have to kill me?"

Aspenkit's jaws opened wide, speechless for the length of an eternity. "I-i didn't! I mean, i-it was an accident! I didn't mean to!"

"Why, Aspenkit?" Poolkit asked, starting to sob. "Why did you do it? What did I ever do to you?"

"Nothing!" Aspenkit mewed, fear and guilt making her start to panic. "It was an accident!"

"But it still happened!" Poolkit said, taking a step towards her with every word. "Whether it was on purpose or not doesn't matter! You still killed me!"

The whole clan was watching Aspenkit now. They didn't see Poolkit, just an insane kit backing away from nothing. She really was crazy.

"I didn't!" Aspenkit protested, backing up until her back hit the wall of the camp. "I-i . . . it w-was—"

"Aspenkit," Poolkit whispered as she came nose to nose with the shivering tabby. "Admit it. You killed me. You're never going to feel better about this ever again."

Aspenkit finally passed out.

. . . ….. . . .

Aspenkit blinked open her eyes to see Smokeleg, Glacierfire, and Blazestar standing over her. The ginger and black leader huffed immediately after she woke up, turning away from the kit and going back up onto the Highledge.

"That was fast," Glacierfire breathed, helping her kit to her paws. "You usually never wake up that quickly." She looked over at her mate. "Let's get her over to the medicine cat den."

"No!" Blazestar yowled from his perch. "She stays here."

Smokeleg's eyes widened. "B-but Blazestar, she passed out not a moment ago! She has to get some herbs!"

"No," the ThunderClan leader meowed again, shaking his head. "She stays here and becomes an apprentice like the others. We're all already gathered."

He started talking before the parents could protest again. "Batkit, from this moment until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Batpaw. Your mentor will be Smokeleg."

The deputy sighed as he was forced to leave his daughter, walking over to his new apprentice and touching noses with him, then padding over to the side of the camp and sitting down with him.

Aspenkit, walking on shaking legs, made her way to the front of the camp, sitting with her siblings as the ceremony continued.

"Whiskerkit, from this moment until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Whiskerpaw. Your mentor will be Shadowpelt." The two touched noses and sat next to Smokeleg and Batpaw.

 _That's funny . . ._ Aspenkit thought to herself as Blazestar talked. _They're all getting who they wanted as mentors. Maybe I'll get Pepperheart!_ She wiggled with excitement at the thought.

"Shinekit, from this moment until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Shinepaw. Your mentor will be Flamelick." They touched noses and joined the other two pairs of mentors and apprentices.

 _She got who she wanted, too! That means I_ must _be getting Pepperheart as a mentor, right?_

Aspenkit was the only one left beneath the Highledge, the center of attention. She peered up at Blazestar, who returned her excited expression with one of disgust and anger.

 _Please, Blazestar,_ she internally begged. _Please give me Pepperheart!_

Blazestar stared down at her, clearly deep in thought, before he performed her apprentice ceremony, the words that would forever change Aspenkit's life.

"Aspenkit, from this moment until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Screechpaw. Your mentor will be Ruffleslash."

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Not Thing**

 **2492! Yaaasssssss!**

 **AND OOOOOHHHHH A CLIFFHANGER KIND OF! I HOPE THAT SHOCKED U GUYS! c, now if u go back to the allegiances in the first chapter, u'll get why (Screechkit) is next to Aspenkit's name…..if any of u noticed that…..idk if u did…..**

 **Anyways, I hope u guys liked that ending! Sorry if it's a bit rushed, I tried to make it not rushed. Hopefully its not.**

 **And I bet that ur glad that they're finally apprentices, right? It took way too long for them to be made apprentices, I expected them to be apprentices by chapter 10. That obviously didn't happen XD**

 **And this was the first time that I've really done a time skip! I hope u liked that!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL! ITS IMPORTANT!**

 **Im doing 2 QOTDT questions! There r 2 of them! Pls answer them both! If u want!**

 **QOTDT: 1) Who do u think the dead she-cat is now?**

 **2) What r some great warrior name ideas for Batpaw, Shinepaw, screech/aspenpaw (come up with one for each), spikepaw, and Wolfpaw? I might pick urs!**

 **K thnx don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I luv u guys!**


	19. Allegiances and Chap19: The First Day

**I updated the allegiances! I hope u like them!**

. . . ….. . . .

ThunderClan

Leader: Blazestar—black tom with ginger chest and paws and yellow eyes (Emeraldsong's mate and Batpaw's father)

Deputy: Smokeleg— white tom with smoky grey foreleg and green eyes (Glacierfire's mate and Screechpaw, Shinepaw, and Whiskerpaw's father) (Batpaw)

Medicine cat: Wingfeather—white and cream she-cat with amber eyes

Warriors:

Tailstripe—plain brown tom with striped white tail and yellow eyes

Pepperheart—light silver tom with black underbelly and yellow eyes

Saltytooth—dark grey she-cat with lighter splotches and amber eyes (Geckostripe's mate and Skyheart and Fangshadow's mother)

Shadowpelt—black tabby she-cat with yellow eyes (Whiskerpaw)

Cardinaltail—tortoiseshell tom with ginger tail and green eyes

Shimmersoar—long furred black and white she-cat with green eyes (Heatcloud's mate and Ruffleslash, Flamelick, and Wonderstrength's mother)

Geckostripe—white and brown tabby tom with yellow eyes (Saltytooth's mate and Skyheart and Fangshadow's father)

Dapplefoot—light silver tabby she-cat with tortoiseshell paws and green eyes

Rockpelt—dark brown tom with brown patches and blue-green eyes (Toothshade's mate)

Heatcloud—ginger tom with amber eyes (Shimmersoar's mate and Rufflepaw, Flamepaw, and Wonderpaw's father)

Sweetfang—light and dark brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Glacierfire—beautiful black and silver tabby she-cat with blue-green eyes (Smokeleg's mate and Screechpaw, Shinepaw, and Whiskerpaw's mother)

Emeraldsong—white she-cat with green eyes (Blazestar's mate and Batkit and Poolkit's mother)

Ruffleslash—long furred dark ginger tom with black splotches and green eyes (Screechpaw)

Flamelick—bright ginger tom with white paws and amber eyes (Shinepaw)

Wonderstrength—light ginger she-cat with black and white patches and amber eyes

Skyheart—brown and gray tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Fangshadow—dark brown tom with grey stripe running down back

Apprentices:

Screechpaw—silver and black tabby she-cat with silver ears, paws, and tail tip and blue-green eyes (Glacierfire and Smokeleg)

Shinepaw—silver she-cat with green eyes (Glacierfire and Smokeleg)

Whiskerpaw—smoky gray and white tom with blue eyes (Glacierfire and Smokeleg)

Batpaw—black tom with ginger stripe running down back and yellow eyes (Emeraldsong and Blazestar)

Queens:

Toothshade—white she-cat with ginger muzzle and tortoiseshell legs and ears and amber eyes (Rockpelt's mate)

Kits:

None

Elders:

Woodshade—dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes

Snowvine—white she cat with grey stripe running down back and yellow eyes

WindClan

Leader: Thornstar—tabby brown tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Ropetail—dark brown tabby tom with black tail

Medicine cat: Branchtail—tortoiseshell tom with green eyes

Warriors:

Windytalon—cream and brown tom

Cutfeather—yellow and tortoiseshell she-cat

Burnpelt—russet tom with white stripes

Lizardshine—light brown tom

Strawpelt—light brown tabby she-cat

Beeflight—silver and white tom

Hedgeleaf—brown tom with grey patches and green eyes (Goldspark's mate and Wolfkit and Spikekit's father)

Brownclaw—brown tom with white tipped ears and paws

Goldspark—gold and silver tabby with blue eyes (Hedgeleaf's mate and Wolfpaw and Spikepaw's mother)

Cornfoot—cream tabby tom

Nettlesting—dark cream tom with brown tail

Freezeheart—cream and brown tabby she-cat

Apprentices:

Wolfpaw—grey and brown tabby with silver paws and ears and blue eyes (Goldspark and Hedgeleaf) (Thornstar)

Spikepaw—golden tom with brown stripes and tail and green eyes (Goldspark and Hedgeleaf) (Nettlesting)

Queens:

Owlsoar—dark grey and brown tabby she-cat

Kits:

none

Elders:

Hazelfoot—silver tabby she-cat with darker spots

Grapeskip—grey and cream tom

RiverClan

Leader: Palestar—long furred light grey she-cat with blue-green eyes

Deputy: Stripechest—silver tom with dark stripe running along chest and belly – orange eyes

Medicine cat: Glidepelt—ginger and silver dappled she-cat with yellow eyes

Warriors:

Jaggedtalon—scruffy brown and grey tom

Furbranch—brown tom with black neck fur

Avalanchetail—light cream she-cat with black underbelly

Swiftbrook—silver tabby she-cat

Meadowheart—cream and tortoiseshell she-cat with black ears

Antwhisper—dark grey and brown tom

Windtail—brown tom with grey tail

Flowershadow—silver she-cat with cream, brown, and black patches

Rippleshade—silver tom with black tail and forelegs, bright amber eyes (Berrypaw)

Wavelight—light silver and tortoiseshell she-cat, yellow eyes (Streampaw)

Salmonfur—silver she-cat with white paws (Lilypaw)

Shrimpclaw—dappled silver and white tom (Stormpaw)

Apprentices:

Streampaw—white she-cat with black ears and tail, ginger paws, and green eyes, parents unknown (Wavelight)

Stormpaw—dark grey and brown tom (Shrimpclaw)

Berrypaw—cream and silver tabby she-cat (Rippleshade)

Lilypaw—black and silver she-cat (Salmonfur)

Queens:

none

Kits:

none

Elders:

Petalthorn—silver and grey tabby she-cat

Lightheart—yellow and cream she-cat

Nutbreeze—brown tabby tom

ShadowClan

Leader: Moonstar—black she-cat with white dappled pelt and blue eyes

Deputy: Rustclaw—dark brown tabby tom with dark amber eyes

Medicine cat: Soilfoot—brown tom with black paws and tail – grey eyes

Warriors:

Misteyes—dark grey tom with black rings around eyes

Sunleap—she-cat with pelt that fades from grey to white

Sharpfang—brown tom with black and white chest and neck

Darkclaw—light brown she-cat with black paws

Scorpionwing—black and brown tabby with white ear tips and paws

Clawpelt—black tom with silver forepaw

Fruitstep—tortoiseshell and black and white she-cat

Lightningpelt—light brown tabby tom

Bluefrost—black she-cat with blue eyes

Falconwing—dark grey tom with white stipe along back

Apprentices:

Applepaw—black she-cat with tortoiseshell chest

Pinepaw—white and black tom with tortoiseshell forepaws

Blizzardpaw—tortoiseshell tom with black ears

Scratchpaw—tortoiseshell tom with white chest and paws

Queens:

None

Kits:

none

Elders:

Hailcloud—black and white tom with silver ears

Treewhisker—silver she-cat with black underbelly

Gorsefall—tortoiseshell she-cat with silver ears

. . . ….. . . .

 **OK HERES THE CHAPTER DON'T FORGET TO GO TO MY PROFILE AND VOTE ON THE NEW POLL!**

. . . ….. . . .

A deathly silence washed over the camp. The only sound to be heard was the wind rustling the leaves of the trees and the sound of prey scuttling through the underbrush. Nobody could have predicted this. Not even Aspenkit herself.

"Blazestar!" Smokeleg yowled from where he was, standing near the other mentors and apprentices, now angrily lashing his tail. "You can't give her such a terrible name!"

The black and ginger leader looked down at his deputy through narrowed eyes. "Actually, I can. I have the power to name any cat anything that I want to. I can name her Mentalpaw instead, if you prefer that."

"But that's insane! You can't-" Glacierfire was interrupted by Blazestar's hateful mew.

"Insane? Insane?! I'm the insane one?! Look at that... thing!" He cried, lashing his tail at Aspenkit. "She's the insane one. That kit's a monster, and 'Screechpaw' is the nicest name she'll be called."

The clan went silent once again, only to be disturbed by Glacierfire's desperate mew. "Please change her name back! You can't name her something so hurtful and inhumane!"

Blazestar snarled. "I just did. This meeting is over!" With that, he turned away and disappeared inside of his den, leaving the clan in a state of shock. After a moment full of confusion, the clan started to unwillingly cheer the new apprentices' names.

"Batpaw! Whiskerpaw! Shinepaw! Screechpaw!"

They hesitantly shouted the last cat's name, no one quite sure that 'Screechpaw' was really her official title now. Emeraldsong went up into the leader's den to try and talk to her mate, but quickly retreated at the sound of his angry hiss. Smokeleg tried to comfort his sobbing mate, while the rest of the clan was in an uproar about the current drama.

Screechpaw's mind was elsewhere, not in the clearing at all, not even listening to the words of the cats around her.

"Screechpaw? B-but that's not my name!" she whimpered to herself, confused and upset. "My name should be Aspenpaw! Why am I not Aspenpaw? And why do I not have Pepperheart as a mentor?"

She hung her head, ashamed of herself. Yet again, there was no one to blame but herself. If she hadn't snuck out, then Poolkit wouldn't be dead, and Blazestar wouldn't have named her something so cruel out of his grief and rage.

 _Well,_ she thought to herself, sighing in defeat. _I guess I'm Screechpaw now._

Was that all that they saw her as? Some crazy kit who screamed her head off at any little thing? The thought filled her with an uncharacteristic rage. Those mousebrains only recognized skin deep traits, only the ones that they could immediately see and know about! And they proved it with Blazestar's action of changing her name.

She hissed underneath her breath, lashing her tail. Well if they didn't see who she truly was, then it was their mistake.

"Foxhearts," she snarled angrily. "If they think that some demeaning name is going to keep me from becoming an amazing warrior, then they are sadly mistaken."

She whipped around and came muzzle to muzzle with a dark ginger face and wide green eyes. She yowled in surprise, jumping backwards and colliding with the pile of rocks that led up to Blazestar's den. Some of them rolled off of the hill and bonked her on her head, their dust floating over her black and silver fur.

Scowling, she shook the rocks off of her pelt, pushing herself away from the boulders, trying to regain the little dignity that she had left. She faced the dark ginger tom again, who was trying to hide a small smile.

"Are you okay?" he asked once she stood in front of him, all signs of the rock incident gone.

"Yeah," she sniffed. Physically, yes, she couldn't be better. Internally, she hated the world.

"Good," Ruffleslash nodded, awkwardly talking to his apprentice. "Because we're going on a tour of the territory today. Are you up for it?"

Screechpaw sighed. "Sure."

Ruffleslash looked at her, knowing that she clearly was not. But she didn't protest as they made their way through the thorn tunnel and out into the forest. Screechpaw didn't gasp in astonishment as all apprentices did when they saw the forest for the first time. She had seen the forest many times before, after all.

They padded through the woods in silence as they made their way to the WindClan border. Screechpaw's head hung as she padded through the underbrush. What a great day this had turned out to be. Renamed, given a mentor that she would never have wanted; yes, this was exactly how Screechpaw would have pictured the worst day ever. Worse yet, it was actually happening.

Screechpaw exhaled loudly as the two kept walking. Why had her life turned out so lousy? It used to be great and happy, so full of hope. Now it was dark and depressing. All because of Poolkit's death and stupid WindClan.

She kicked a rock at a tree at the thought of WindClan. She hated them! She hated all of them!

Well, maybe not all of them . . . .

Wolfkit and Spikekit, who, by now, must be Wolfpaw and Spikepaw, were pretty cool. And they were always there for her, whether she was insane or not. She had given up on being completely loyal to her clanmates a long time ago. Besides, if they couldn't look past her fits of madness, then they didn't deserve her complete loyalty.

Wolfpaw and Spikepaw, on the other hand, did look past her insaneness. They saw her as the fun little tabby, not the crazed mousebrain that everyone else viewed her as. Didn't that mean that they should have her loyalty and trust, not the cats of ThunderClan?

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she and Ruffleslash arrived at the WindClan border. Screechpaw shrunk back slightly at it, not wanting to be anywhere near the thieves that inhabited the land.

Ruffleslash, noticing her flinch, was sure to make his summary of the other clan short.

"As you know, WindClan cats live on the moor. They're slim so that they can run fast and catch their primary prey, rabbits. Usually, ThunderClan is in alliance with them, but we aren't currently because of the recent battles. Any questions?"

Screechpaw nodded, ears flat against her head. "Can we leave?"

Ruffleslash flicked his tail. "Sure. I'll show you the lake."

They had walked down the WindClan border and were turning to head along the lakeside when a piercing shriek rang out. Ruffleslash froze when he heard it, fur rising along his back.

He turned towards where the noise had come from, the WindClan territory, where four cats could be seen as they sprinted over the grass, eyes trained on the ThunderClan cats.

Screechpaw felt many different emotions arise within her at the sight of them: fear, curiosity, desperation to run away, and most of all, hate.

The last feeling grew even more when she saw who was leading the cats. It was the malicious, cold blooded leader, Thornstar.

As the cats drew nearer, Ruffleslash gasped as he saw the lead cat, pushing his new apprentice behind him and into a bush as the WindClan patrol drew nearer. They couldn't take her again.

Thornstar glared at Ruffleslash from the other side of the river. "What are you doing here?" he snarled, showing his sharp teeth.

Ruffleslash attempted to make the fur on his back lay flat as he replied coolly. "I'm here showing my apprentice around on her first day."

Thornstar smiled, which had always been more of a scowl than an actual smile. "Oh, how nice. And who is this apprentice? Do I know her?"

Screechpaw and Ruffleslash froze at his words. What now?

They never had time to think of an answer. Thornstar purred, a grotesque sound conjured from deep within his neck. "I can see you over there, Aspenkitty. Or I suppose its Aspenpaw now, correct?" He smiled again as she stepped out of the bushes. "Or is it even that?"

Screechpaw blinked in surprise and fear. How did he know that she hadn't been named Aspenpaw?

Ruffleslash growled. "You'd better step off, Thornstar. You wouldn't want another battle, would you?"

The leader's eyes widened in mock excitement. "That's exactly what I want! But not now; it would be no fun to destroy you two." His claws sheathed and unsheathed as he spoke. "A real warrior needs a challenge."

Ruffleslash let his hackles raise and his fur stand on and again. "You think that it would be easy to beat me?"

Thornstar looked him over, a gleam in his eyes that showed only amusement. "Please. I could kill you any day."

Ruffleslash snarled in rage, but was cut off as Thornstar spoke again. "But, I have to say, we are both here on the same terms. Nettlesting and I are both here with our new apprentices, Wolfpaw and Spikepaw."

The two other apprentices stepped forward awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Screechpaw. The ThunderClan apprentice was glad to see them, but horrified to see that they had each gotten such terrible, bloodthirsty mentors.

"Wolfpaw, Spikepaw," Thornstar meowed, clearly pleased with himself. "Do you think that you could beat that pathetic excuse for an apprentice?"

Ruffleslash's fur bristled, enough to make any cat think that it was being whipped by the newleaf air. On the other side of the border, Spikepaw and Wolfpaw were clearly struggling to stifle their furious moods.

"Maybe," Spikepaw finally answered, trying to keep the growl from his voice.

"What about you," Thornstar asked, turning to his own apprentice. "Could you beat her?"

Wolfpaw narrowed his eyes at the ground. "I don't know, she seems pretty strong."

Thornstar kept staring at the apprentice as if expecting him to say more, but eventually gave up on him. He turned back to the two ThunderClan cats.

"You'd better watch out, cat," he spat darkly. "And don't ever think about messing with me. You won't be left alive if you ever do."

With a flick of his tail, he led Nettlesting, Wolfpaw, and Spikepaw away from the river, none of them looking back.

Ruffleslash stood there, looking after the cats. Once they were finally out of eye sight, he turned back to his shivering apprentice. "Are you okay?"

She slowly nodded, her wide blue-green eyes still watching the place that they had been only moments ago.

Ruffleslash looked at her, only filled with concern. "No, you're not. I'm taking you back to camp right now. Let's get you to the medicine cat's den."

Screechpaw jumped in front of him, her short trance gone from her persona. "No, it's okay! I'm fine!"

Ruffleslash narrowed his eyes at her as she continued. "We're already out here, so let's just finish the tour of the territory! Please?"

Ruffleslash rolled his eyes at her, amusement showing in them slightly. "Fine! But as soon as we get back, you're going to the medicine cat's den. Okay?"

Screechpaw nodded, relieved. "Sure! Thank you!"

As the padded away from the evil clan's border, Ruffleslash looked over at his first apprentice. "Oh, and one more thing," he meowed.

Screechpaw stared up at him as they walked on. "What?"

Ruffleslash stared ahead of him at the sinking sun, a small smile on his muzzle. "You'll always be Aspenpaw to me."

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1892 words! Yeah-yah!**

 ** _OK SO THIS IS IMPORTANT READ THIS COME ON DO IT!_** **ok, so I put a new poll up on my profile! It is about the apprentices' warrior names! I didn't use all of them, but I picked the best ones of each cat! Please go and vote on them! The one that wins for each cat will be their warrior name!**

 **K, I hope u liked this chapter! I did!**

 **QOTDT: Is Ruffleslash a good mentor so far? Should he become a great mentor or a horrible one?**

 **Ok, thank u for reading this chapter! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Byeeeeee!**


	20. Too Early in the Morning

**Here it is!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

"Get up!"

Screechpaw moaned as she heard her mentor's too awake voice calling to her from the clearing. Blinking her eyes open groggily, she spied the dark sky spread out above the forest, just able to see it through the cracks in the apprentices den. The various creatures of the night were still awake and active, their noises echoing around the still slightly chilly camp.

 _The sun's not even awake yet_ , she inwardly complained. _Why do I have to be?_

She perked her silver ears, trying to hear her mentor. Not a sound met them. She sighed; she must have imagined his voice. Screechpaw settled back into her comfortable nest, closing her eyes as she sank back into another dream.

"Hey, get up! We're on the dawn patrol!"

Okay, she definitely had not imagined the voice this time. She groaned as she pushed herself to her paws, an enormous yawn erupting from her jaws.

She ducked out of the den and looked around the quiet camp. Smokeleg, who was awake early to perform his deputy tasks, stood next to Ruffleslash and the rest of the patrol, Tailstripe and Shimmersoar. At the sight of the sleepy apprentice, the last two cats headed up the thorn tunnel while Ruffleslash stayed there patiently for Screechpaw. After moons of waiting, she finally reached him and they headed into the forest together.

Screechpaw yawned again as they padded into the woods. "Where are we going?"

"ShadowClan border." Ruffleslash replied. "I'm sorry that we had to get up so early on your first day as an apprentice, but it's the deputy's orders, not mine. And after, we can have a hunting lesson if you want to."

What she really wanted was to go back to sleep. But she couldn't tell her mentor that on her first day of training. "Sure," she murmured, still too asleep to say anything loudly.

The sun was just rising as the group of four reached the ShadowClan border, the birds beginning to fly about and use their voices. Screechpaw scrunched up her nose at the ShadowClan scent; how could anyone live in that unearthly stench?

She stood back as the other cats set the borders, refreshing the markers as they made their way along the whole length of the border.

Screechpaw, bored by the whole endeavor, just gazed around. ShadowClan hadn't seemed all that different from ThunderClan when her mother had described it to her, but now she saw that the two territories really weren't alike at all. Other that the fact they both had trees, they were opposites. Unlike the soft trees of ThunderClan, ShadowClan had rough pine trees closely packed together. The whole land was overflowing in shadows, anything five fox lengths past their border swallowed up in darkness. The ground was covered in a giant blanket of pine needles, while ThunderClan had the soft underbrush and flowers under their paws, the occasional bramble thorn or two showing up to ruin the party. But that was expected and put up with. But how could anyone live in a place like this?

Ruffleslash noticed her wrinkle her nose in disgust and purred, amused. "I know, it's horrible the first time you smell it. But you'll eventually get used to it, as sad as it is to say."

Screechpaw nodded as they continued their way down the border, making their way towards the lake slowly but surely. Screechpaw zoned out for a while, pushing the voices to the back of her mind as usual, deciding to concentrate on nothing. It wasn't going too well.

She gasped in shock as she heard a twig snap behind her. She whipped around, surprised to see a ShadowClan patrol looking at her and the three other cats with her.

Tailstripe, a brown tom with a striped white tail, dipped his head to the normally hostile cats. "Hello, Sunleap," he mewed respectfully to a she-cat, whose odd pelt faded from white to grey.

Sunleap dipped her head back to him. "Tailstripe," she mewed plainly. "How is ThunderClan today?"

"Good," he said. "And ShadowClan?"

She shrugged. "Getting along. How is WindClan? Have their attacks ceased at all?"

Tailstripe, along with the other warriors of ThunderClan, growled and swiped at the ground in anger at the mention of their rival clan. "No," Tailstripe answered. "Not yet."

Sunleap narrowed her eyes and nodded. "I'm sorry for you. It really is uncalled for that they attack you and RiverClan. I don't doubt that it won't be long until they manage to find a way to attack us."

"So how is the prey running?" Ruffleslash meowed, trying to change the subject in front of his unsteady apprentice. "Treating you well?"

Sunleap smiled. "Yes! It's the most we've had in ages! It makes me wonder why WindClan would even want extra territory. If they've had as much luck as us, then they surely don't need any more."

The white and grey she-act's eyes suddenly turned from Ruffleslash to Screechpaw, growing wider as they realized who she was. "Wait, are you that little kit who was stolen by WindClan?"

Screechpaw, petrified at the sudden attention, merely nodded. The ShadowClan cats blinked in surprise, then angrily sheathed and unsheathed their claws.

"Those rotten cats!" another ShadowClan cat, Scorpionwing, growled. "If they ever even think about taking one of our kits, then they will pay with their lives."

Screechpaw frowned. "You guys know about that?"

Sunleap huffed as if she couldn't believe that the apprentice had asked that. "Are you kidding? You're practically famous! A few moons ago, Blazestar announced at a gathering that WindClan had stolen and abused you. WindClan, like the thieving frogbrains they are, lied and said that they had never laid a claw on her. But ThunderClan had the proof that those vile cats had hurt you, a tuft of fur that smelled exactly like your pelt. Well, you and a mix of WindClan. It was obvious that they were lying; no one believed them."

 _Well_ , Screechpaw thought. _There goes the possibility of Thornstar ever not finding out about the clans' awareness of our little fight._ She sighed. Maybe he had forgotten about his promise to kill her. She sure hoped so.

"Well," Ruffleslash mewed hurriedly, trying to keep his apprentice's ears away from the clan gossip that related to her. "Wish Moonstar our best. We'll just be continuing our patrol."

The group padded on after the ShadowClan cats said their farewells, the warriors marking the border while Screechpaw basked in her dark thoughts.

What would Thornstar do to her? The next time a battle happened between the two clans, would he find her and kill her? Or would he find her some other time and kill her then?

 _Stop being stupid,_ the voice in her head snarled. _If he tries to kill you, just murder him. You've had enough practice._

Screechpaw screwed up her eyes in defense against the voice _. I did not kill anyone!_

 _Oh really?_

 _Yes! It's not my fault that she died!_

 _I can see into your heart. I know that you don't fully believe that. Just accept it. All will be better for you._

Should she? Should she just accept the fact that she had killed one of her closest friends? Screechpaw sighed. Her world was so confusing, so dark, so devoid of light. Oh, how she wished she could just have a little ray of sunshine come down upon her weary, ruffled pelt. As sad as it was to know, the fact that that would probably never happen again, or at least for a long, long time, had settled in her heart and mind. Maybe she should just accept it.

The border patrol had finally reached the lake, the sun now in the sky for all to see. Ruffleslash and Screechpaw said goodbye to Tailstripe and Shimmersoar and began padding into the woods.

Screechpaw looked up at her mentor curiously. "Where are we going to practice hunting?"

Ruffleslash thought for a moment. "Hmmm, how about the Great Oak? You haven't seen it yet, have you?"

Screechpaw shook her head. The dark ginger and black tom purred. "Well, Aspenpaw, then we have to go there!"

Screechpaw almost stopped in surprise at the use of a different title. He had called her Aspenpaw! So he wasn't going to call her Screechpaw like the rest of the clan. That little fact made her like him as a mentor a whole lot more.

"That gives me a great idea," he said, deep in thought. "How about I teach you how to catch a squirrel today? That way you can both climb the Great Oak and hunt in it!"

Screechpaw flicked her tail happily. "Sure! That sounds fun!"

"Yeah, and you can impress the other apprentices at the end of the day when you tell them that you learned to hunt squirrel. Most mentors teach their apprentices to hunt mice or shrew first. Not me! I'm going to teach you something more advanced right away. You can handle it, right?" He looked at her expectantly, eyes shining in amusement.

Screechpaw snarled playfully, batting at a nearby log with unsheathed claws. "You know I can!" And just like that, her dreary mood was gone.

They finally arrived at the tree, and Screechpaw gasped aloud at the size of it all. The massive structure stretched out high above her head, reaching into the clouds and heavens above. The trunk was as thick as a thousand foxes, the branches as sturdy as StarClan themselves. Imagine how many animals would call it their sanctuary, their haven, a home!

Ruffleslash smiled as he watched Aspenpaw gape, eyes wide, staring at the gargantuous thing, its leaves almost all replenished after the long leafbare. She just kept staring and staring at the tree, eyes unblinking.

He eventually laughed, snapping her out of her leaf filled trance. "So the first thing that you should know about squirrels is that they are extremely fast. The key, then, is obviously speed. To start, though, you get into the normal hunter's crouch."

He nodded at her expectantly. Screechpaw swallowed, nervously stepping into the position that she had seen previous cats practice in the clearing back at camp.

Ruffleslash watched her closely, twitching his nose. "Not bad. Just . . ." He used his tail to push her back closer to the ground and to lengthen the space between her front and back legs. "There. Now pretend that that leaf over there"—he pointed to a leaf at the base of the Great Oak—"is a squirrel. The goal is to kill it before it has time to run up a tree. Make sure that you don't step on any twigs or leaves; if you do, they make a noise, and the prey will hear it and get away."

Screechpaw nodded, slowly and carefully making her way towards the tree. She watched her paws, maneuvering them around any stray underbrush, stepping lightly. Once she was within tail distance of the leaf, she pounced on it, proudly standing back up with her prize clasped in her jaws.

Ruffleslash grinned. "Great! How about you try that out on a live squirrel?"

Screechpaw nodded, searching around her for any signs of movement. She sat there, patiently waiting for a little creature to show itself. Nothing moved. She waited some more. Still nothing.

She was about to give up when her eyes caught sight of a tiny scuffle among the roots of the Great Oak. Out popped a little head, then a fluffy tail. It was a squirrel.

Screechpaw turned to look at her mentor, who gave her an encouraging nod, having had seen the squirrel. That was enough to motivate her into at least trying to catch it.

As stealthily as possible, she crept around the leaves and sticks in her way, making sure that her paws didn't alarm any of them to sound their ear splitting calls. The squirrel carried on its business; there was no reason in its mind, after all, to be frightened of anything.

Screechpaw was a cat's length away from the creature when her left forepaw made the dreadful mistake of snapping an extraordinarily loud twig. The sound echoed throughout the forest and the squirrel's head shot up. The animal immediately lost interest in what it was doing, shooting up the trunk of the tree.

Screechpaw, not giving up yet, followed it up, clawing her way up the massive tree. She pulled herself onto the same branch as the squirrel, but the latter just flung itself onto another one. She followed it there, too. On and on and on they went, until the squirrel had finally had enough. It jumped from the Great Oak and into a neighboring tree, mocking Screechpaw as it scurried away to safety.

Screechpaw stamped a forepaw into the bark angrily. She shouldn't have let it get away!

 _I could've caught it,_ the voice in her head gloated.

 _Shut up!_

"Aspenpaw," the voice from below sounded out. "Aspenpaw, its okay that you didn't catch it."

Screechpaw looked down from her branch and immediately became nauseous at how high up she was. Ruffleslash was now only a tiny pebble on the ground far below. Why had she let herself climb so high?

"Come on down!" Ruffleslash called. "You can try again later!"

Screechpaw nodded. "Okay!" she called, placing her paw over the edge of her branch, but quickly putting it back onto it. She put it over the other side. No, that wouldn't work either.

She swallowed, embarrassed, as she called down to her patient mentor. "Umm, Ruffleslash, I think I'm stuck!"

"What?"

"I can't get down!"

There was a pause, then, "Okay, you stay there! I'm coming to get you!"

Screechpaw watched as the young warrior crawled up the tree, gracefully jumping from branch to branch as he made his way higher and higher. It was only a matter of minutes before he was sitting next to her, looking for the best route down.

"Okay, Aspenpaw, just put one paw here," he mewed, placing his own paw on a nearby but awkwardly placed section of the tree. "Now put one here, and here . . . ."

Ruffleslash and Screechpaw slowly made their way down the length of the tree, the first always patiently letting the frightened apprentice take her time. Several times, she almost lost her footing and fell, but he would be there for her, holding onto her scuff in the tough situations.

They finally made it back to the solid ground just after sunhigh. Screechpaw, as soon as her paws touched the earth, shrank to it thankfully.

Ruffleslash let out a long breath. "Okay, next time," he mewed, all of his worry now turned into relieved amusement, "We'll pick a different tree."

Screechpaw purred at that, then got to her feet and padded back towards camp with her mentor.

"Hey," he mewed. "If it helps, I didn't catch anything on my first day, either. And I was taught how to stalk a mouse!"

Screechpaw laughed as he continued on. "You should have seen the look on Heatcloud's face when he saw that his son hadn't brought anything back to show him! The other two apprentices had, why not this one?" Ruffleslash frowned as he imitated his father, seriously putting on a straight face. "'Rufflepaw, I'm very disappointed in you. Go and clean out the elders den for the rest of your life!'"

Screechpaw was laughing hard now. "Did he really say that?"

Ruffleslash shrugged, a glint of humor in his green eyes. "Maybe."

They walked into camp, which was now full of cats lounging around or performing duties. The sun was shining down on the ThunderClan mentor and apprentice as they talked.

"Go back to your den and sleep," Ruffleslash meowed. "It's already been a long day and we shouldn't have gone on the dawn patrol on your first one as an apprentice. I'll wake you up later. Besides, you deserve it! Even though you didn't catch that squirrel, you tried as hard as anyone could have. You deserve the rest!"

He tapped her on the head with his tail playfully before he padded away, leaving the tired apprentice to retire to her den. As she curled up in her comfy nest, she smiled as she thought about her first day. In reality, though she hadn't caught any prey, it hadn't been bad. And though her dreams may be haunted as she slept, she knew that at least the waking world wasn't always as bad as the voices in her head made it seem.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2761 words! A long-ish chapter!**

 **Sorry if it seemed rushed at the end, I'm really tired and we have school off tomorrow so I want to go downstairs and watch The Simpons. But not yet!**

 **I hope u guys liked that chap! If u have any questions or comments, don't forget to leave them in a review!**

 **QOTDT: should there be a ShadowClan cat that plays a semi big role in this story? If so, who (look in the allegiances) and what role would he/she play?**

 **OK! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Will try to update as soon as possible! Byeeeee!**


	21. The Mouse's Corpse

**And this chapter is one of the reasons y this story is rated "T." I think, at least. It gets pretty gross.**

 **Okay, so I want to explain something because it can probably get confusing. I know that in the story, Screechpaw is sometimes called "Screechpaw" and is sometimes called "Aspenpaw." The only time that she is called "Aspenpaw" is when it is Ruffleslash's POV, at least so far. Screechpaw sees herself as "Screechpaw" because she still labels herself as that, not the other name. I JUST WANTED TO CLEAR THAT UP! ;)**

 **HERE IS AN AMAZING ROLEPLAY FROM MyDearNewt!:**

 **Blazestar: Batpaw, by the powers of StarClan, your warrior name is now Batarang!**

 **Batpaw: WTFLUFFY UNICORNS!**

 **Ivyshine: *MANIACAL CACKLING* HAHAHAHAHAHAH! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MyDearNewt GETS BORED!**

 **Batpaw: I refuse to live with this ridiculous name! Blazestar, do something!**

 **Ivyshine: It's too late now! I write these rp's! No one else! I have ultimate power!**

 **Blazestar: i-I can't… fight it… I'm sorry, Batpa-Batarang! She's too far inside my mind to- GAAAHHHH!**

 **Blazestar: *stiffens* *pupils change small***

 **Ivyshine: I'm in his mind now… The Clan shall do my bidding *evil grin***

 **Blazestar: Whiskerpaw, by the powers of StarClan, your warrior name is now Whiskerwhisker. The clan honors your whiskers and fur and welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.**

 **Whiskerpaw: NO! PLEASE! I'VE DREADED THIS MOMENT SINCE I REALIZED WHAT COULD HAPPEN AND NOW IT HAS! NOOOOO! *cries into paws***

 **Ivyshine: Don't be sad, dear, I've given you all lovely names!**

 **Batarang: *mutters* misery enjoys company…**

 **Shinepaw: mousedungmousedungmousedungmouse-**

 **Blazestar: SHINEPAW!**

 **Shinepaw: …**

 **Blazestar: From this moment on, you will be known as Shineshimmer. We honor your shininess and glittery-ness.**

 **Shinepaw: That's not even a wor-**

 **Blazestar: We welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.**

 **Screechpaw: *runs***

 **Ivyshine: NOT SO FAST, MY LITTLE PUPPETS! *demented grin***

 **Screechpaw: *stiffly walks back***

 **Ivyshine: Don't worry, dear, you're my favorite. Just you wait, this'll be good.**

 **Blazestar: From this moment on, you will be known as Aspentree. StarClan honors your-**

 **Screechpaw: OH COME ON I FINALLY GET MY NAME BACK AND IT'S A REDUNDANT-**

 **Blazestar: -cuddliness and heart and bravery and maturity and soft fur and wisdom and everything about you, and we welcome you as a warrior or ThunderClan.**

 **Aspentree: ok that's definitely that psychotic Ivyshine taking over his mind isn't it**

 **Ivyshine: Aw, admit it, you missed me!**

 **Clan: BATARANG! WHISKERWHISKER! SHINESHIMMER! ASPENTREE!**

 **New Warriors: *silently hating their lives***

 **Ivyshine: Oh and Flamelick, hi there, ILOVEYOUPLEASEBEMYMATEYOUBEAUTIFULCREATIONFROMSILVERPELT ok byeeee!**

 **Flamelick: *jaw drop* StarClan save me… Ruffleslash was right, oh fox dung, oh fox dung!**

 **Ivyshine: Bye, all my sweet little kits! Off to a different ceremony! *mumbles* Spikefork and Wolfgang… Hehehehh…**

 **ISNT THAT AMAZING?!**

 **Also, I was seriously shocked at how little reviews I got last chapter. What was up with that, u guys? I got like 9, but its basically 7 because one reviewer reviewed 3 times. I luv u guys no matter how many reviews I get, but the reviews motivate me! the more reviews I get, the better the story gets! XD**

 **LONGEST CHAPTER YET! IM SORRY, BUT IT JUST IS! ENJOY!**

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw padded into camp, proudly holding her head high, her two squirrels dangling from her dangerous jaws. Ruffleslash praised her still as they walked into the clearing, impressed that his apprentice had mastered the squirrel move as such a young apprentice, continuously keeping her seldom seen good mood running.

As Screechpaw was laying her freshkill on the pile, she was tackled by three bundles of fur that had leapt at her out of nowhere. She yowled in surprise as she collided with the ground, the three kits standing over her.

"Surrender now, Screechstar of WindClan!" one of them, a tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes hissed, her tiny growl making Screechpaw purr.

"Never, Robinstar!" She played along with the kits, who flicked their tails happily at her easygoing nature. "I will continue to attack ThunderClan until the forest is mine!"

"Then face our fury!" another kit, Bushkit, a brown tom with a white stripe running down his back and white paws, snarled, amber eyes lighting up excitedly.

The three kits jumped on Screechpaw, or Screechstar, "attacking" her with their soft pelts and adorable squeals. The apprentice tried to shake them off, but they clung on, their unsheathed paws managing to stay lodged in her fur.

Screechpaw flopped to the ground, gasping over exaggeratingly, pretending that every breath was a burden.

"You . . ." she squeaked, her heavy gasps leaving her too breathless to speak. "You ThunderClan…cats…are…are too tough for me! I should go back to my own territory and stay there for moons!"

The three kits purred, lashing their tails in victory. "We beat the great Screechstar!" Tulipkit, a white and brown she-cat, mewed. "They should apprentice us right now!"

Screechpaw got to her paws, growling playfully. "But you haven't seen the last of me! I'll be back! Sometime soon!"

A call from her mentor turned her head and she said goodbye to the kits as she padded over to him and his sister, who were sharing tongues as they sat by the freshkill pile. Screechpaw sat next to them, grabbing a mouse from the heap for herself.

"So," Wonderstrength mewed. "Ruffleslash tells me that you caught two squirrels today, huh?"

Screechpaw nodded happily as she chewed her mouse, savoring the warm and distinct flavors that came to her tongue. "I finally mastered catching them before they run up a tree."

"Well," Ruffleslash mewed. "I wouldn't say _mastered_ , but you did do pretty well."

Screechpaw rolled her eyes and smiled. "So what have you been doing, Wonderstrength?"

"Not much," the light ginger and white cat replied, bored. "Mostly patrols and stuff. Having an apprentice sounds so much more exciting than not having one. Not that being a warrior is boring or anything," she defended. "But I wish I had an apprentice."

She looked at her foreleg, her right one, angrily, shaking it in front of her. "That stupid WindClan apprentice—Nettlepaw?—permanently ruined my leg when we attacked them to get you back."

Screechpaw scowled. "Yeah, I know him. He's Nettlesting now, but he was the one who suggested they keep me there, in their camp."

She flattened her ears in anger as she remembered the cream and brown tom and the proud smirk that was plastered on his face as Thornstar announced his decision about whether or not to keep the kit. She would give anything to go back to that day and rip that expression off of his face with her claws.

 _Yeah, like you could do that._

A growl rose in Screechpaw's throat as the voice spoke in her head. _What do you want?_

 _A life._

 _What . . . ?_ Screechpaw was puzzled at that last part, but her train of thought was cut off when a tail laid softly on her shoulder.

She looked up in surprise at her mentor, seeing his worried gaze on her. Screechpaw looked down at her paws in embarrassment, shocked to see that her claws were unsheathed, digging into her half eaten mouse, the poor creature's body mangled and bloodied. She shrank back slightly, ashamed at what she had done to the food that StarClan had so generously provided for her.

"Sorry," she mumbled to Ruffleslash as she picked up the remains of the corpse, going to dispose of it in dirtplace.

 _What's wrong with me?_ she thought to herself as she placed the animal in a hole, covering it back up with the dirt that had been moved to create it. _Why am I like this?_

 _You know why._

 _No, actually, I don't!_

 _Well, you did kill that kit._

 _Well . . . ._

Yet again, Screechpaw found herself at a loss for comeback words. She couldn't argue with . . . whatever was in her head's logic.

 _What is in my head?_

 _Me._

 _That doesn't help._

 _It should._

 _Well, it doesn't._

She sat down again next to the two warriors, blocking them out and shoving the voices to the back of her mind as she sat there in the afternoon sun, the newleaf light shining on her pelt, making her feel comfortably warm.

All too soon, though, Ruffleslash's voice jerked her out of her thoughts, the ginger and black tom standing up and stretching as he talked to his apprentice. "Come on, Aspenpaw"—that got a startled look from his sister—"all of the apprentices and mentors are going to the training hollow for practice. Trust me, I wish we could lounge around here all day, but we have to go. Besides, it's battle training! That's fun at least, right?"

Screechpaw stood up, sighing. "I guess. If I master all of the moves quickly, though, can we go for another hunt?"

 _Yeah, like you'll actually manage to master something._

 _Shut up!_

Ruffleslash purred, oblivious to Screechpaw's inward quarrel. "Again with the mastering! You're good, Aspenpaw, but you haven't even been apprentice for a moon yet!"

Screechpaw forced out a smile. "Still."

Ruffleslash flicked his tail, swatting his apprentice over the head. "Fine. But I expect you to actually master them, then."

 _Still not going to happen._

 _I'll show you, you stupid voice!_

The two padded out of the thorn tunnel, breaking into a jog as they leapt over logs and bushes on their way to the training hollow. Screechpaw kept her eyes ahead of her, already growing accustomed to the constant sprinting and the prickly forest floor, but still needing to watch her paws. Ruffleslash, on the other hand, moved easily and swiftly through the trees without needing to look where he was going, the moons that he had spent outside of camp, though they weren't a large whole, training his brain to the point of where it memorized every bump, every dip, every part of ThunderClan territory. Screechpaw frowned. How could he be such a young warrior and already have memorized the entire forest?

They arrived at the training hollow, the three other pairs of cats already there, waiting for them patiently. Screechpaw went to go sit with the other apprentices while Ruffleslash sat by the mentors, giving her a small wink. It was something that he had just started doing, winking at her. But she liked it, so she didn't tell him to stop, and he didn't. There was something about the gestures that made Screechpaw feel calm, more relaxed.

 _Such a freak like you couldn't ever be calm or relaxed. Before you even think it, don't bring normal into the picture._

Screechpaw growled quietly to herself. She would get the voice back later.

"Okay, apprentices," Smokeleg started, wrapping his tail neatly around his paws. "You've already learned the forepaw swipe, the belly rake, and a few other moves, but we're going to teach you a new one today: the leap and hold."

The apprentices fidgeted excitedly as they sat; the leap and hold was one of the most useful battle moves for small cats, especially apprentices, when they took on larger cats in battle.

"First," Smokeleg continued. "You wait until your opponent is on their belly or is turned around. Then, you just jump onto their back and hold on. It's really quite simple. Everyone practice with your mentor, and don't forget to keep your claws sheathed."

The pairs spread out across the sandy hollow, every warrior going more in depth about the specifics of the move with their own apprentice.

"So, Aspenpaw," Ruffleslash meowed. "What moves do you think you could use against a warrior to get them into a position where you could use the leap and hold on them?"

 _What moves . . . ._

 _None. You couldn't manage it anyways._

 _Ugh . . . ._

"Well, you could use the forepaw swipe, right?" she asked, head tilted to the side in question.

Her mentor narrowed his eyes in thought. "I suppose. But the best move of choice would be the hind leg kick."

Screechpaw nodded. "Okay. How do you do that?"

Ruffleslash stood up and demonstrated the tactic on an imaginary cat, jumping over its head, landing with his hindquarters facing the other cats, then staying balanced on his forelegs while kicking out with his hind ones. He sat down again, casually drawing one paw over his ears.

"See," he said. "You face your opponent, then jump over them. When you land, you kick out with your hind legs and catch them on their back paws. Once they fall over, all you have to do is turn around and jump onto them and hold on with unsheathed claws."

Screechpaw nodded and flicked her tail, clearly impressed at her mentor's ease and ability to complete the complex move. "Do you really think that I'll be able to learn all that today?"

"I think so," the dark ginger tom replied. "If you try really hard, then I know you can accomplish it."

Screechpaw swallowed nervously, then nodded. If her mentor thought she could do it, then she couldn't let him down.

 _I wouldn't let your hopes get so high,_ the voice in her head scoffed.

Screechpaw snorted softly. _I'll show you. I know I can do it._

 _This will be fun._

Ruffleslash and Screechpaw got into position, standing a foxlength away from each other, each scuffling the sand around their paws in determination to show the other their skill.

"Run at me, then jump over as high as you can manage," Ruffleslash mewed.

Screechpaw nodded. She stared at her mentor, trying to pick the best moment to move. He stared back, tail lashing in preparation. They circled each other, each watching the other in the way a hawk would watch a field mouse.

Screechpaw shot forward, running at Ruffleslash, her legs pumping as they pushed the ground beneath her. Ruffleslash drew closer and closer, and Screechpaw stuttered her movements so that she could make the leap over him, but her paw caught on a stray uneven patch of sand and instead of jumping, she crashed head on into the ginger and black tom, the two yowling in surprise.

They tumbled over and over in the sand, eventually falling away from each other, left gasping and shaking on their own.

 _Nice one, you mouse brain!_

 _I'll do better next time._

 _Yeah. Sure you will. When rabbits fly._

 _You'll see._

She turned her attention from her own head to the panting warrior tail lengths from her. "Ruffleslash! I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

"Okay?" he asked, his back facing Screechpaw as he sat, trying to catch his breath. "Okay? You just ran straight into me!"

"I-i," Screechpaw stuttered. She hadn't meant to make him upset, it was an accident! "I'm s-sorry, I—"

"I'm better than okay!" Ruffleslash exclaimed, turning to her, his face turned up in a wide grin, purring from ear to ear. "That was great! But are _you_ okay?"

Screechpaw blinked, relieved. "Yeah. But I got a lot of sand in my fur!"

Ruffleslash stood up, showing off his own pelt. "Look at mine!"

Screechpaw laughed, the tom's sandy fur making her grin. She purred even more at his attempt to shake the sand off his head, which was to no avail, the stubborn, miniscule rocks sticking to his ginger hairs. He eventually sat back down on the ground, exaggerating a disappointed pout, huffing like a kit.

"My pelt is never going to get clean!" he meowed, trying to paw his fur clean instead. Again, it was fruitless.

Screechpaw looked at him, eyes wide in pretend epiphany. "I know! Maybe if you roll in the sand, then you'll get clean!"

Ruffleslash's eyes widened, too, and his tail flew up. "Great idea!"

Screechpaw's mouth opened in surprise as she watched him roll around, only getting the white sand more imbedded in his pelt. He sat up, purring uncontrollably, eyes alit in amusement as he saw his apprentice laugh.

"As your mentor," he said, sitting up straightly as if he was a very important leader. "I order you to clean your fur in this sand like I did."

Screechpaw dipped her head in "respect," barely able to hide her smile. "Yes, your high and mighty mentor-ness."

She got on her back, shimmying her pelt back and forth until it was covered in the powdery white stuff, purring all the while. She sat up, trying to blink the sand from her eyes. She looked down at herself, seeing the ghost like form of her beautiful black and silver tabby pelt. Oh, her mother was going to give her a harsh scolding later.

Ruffleslash watched her through narrowed eyes, the mock authority not even close to being powerful enough to drown out the clear amusement in them. "I approve," he meowed.

The two laughed as they looked at each other's pelts, each now identical replicas of each other and the ground beneath them, all color other than the white of the sand nonexistent on them.

"Okay," Ruffleslash mewed eventually. "Let's master this move now." The two got back into their previous positions, getting ready to try the move out again. "Now don't forget to jump as high as you can. Also, try jumping and not running into me at full pelt." His eyes narrowed in amusement at his last words.

Screechpaw nodded, crouching down, tail lashing in concentration. _I can do this._

 _No you can't._

 _Yes, I can!_

 _You're just going to fail again._

Screechpaw snarled and ran at Ruffleslash, jumping at the last second before she collided with him again. She soared over him, but didn't quite jump far enough and landed just behind him, so close that their pelts touched, and Screechpaw didn't have enough room to carry out the second part of the move, the actual kicking part.

 _I told you._

 _How many times do I have to tell you to shut up!?_

"It's okay," Ruffleslash meowed, seeing Aspenpaw's frustration and trying to console her. His apprentice, he had come to learn, could easily get mad at herself if she didn't immediately succeed at a task. He had to somehow convince her that no one had ever been able to do anything perfectly on their first try.

"Trust me, it took me a long time to master this move! It was at least a quarter moon until I finally got the jumping part down!"

Aspenpaw visibly brightened at that and Ruffleslash inwardly sighed in relief. He had to learn exactly what to say with her. So far, everything he had said was the right thing.

The silver and black cat crouched yet again, breathing deeply as she prepared herself yet again.

 _You got this. Just run, jump, land, and kick._

 _Just jump, fail, break your neck, and die like the little murderer you are._

 _Go away!_

 _No._

 _Ugh, I'll show you! Just watch!_

Screechpaw threw herself forward, her silver paws pounding the ground as she rocketed toward her mentor, the voice's words fueling her rage and need to prove it wrong. She leapt, flying over Ruffleslash's head, and landed as gracefully as he had, her rump pointed towards his. Her blood boiling, she quickly shifted her weight and balanced on her forelegs as she kicked out with her hind ones, which shoved into Ruffleslash's, causing him to crumple to the ground. Screechpaw whipped around, jumping onto his back and gripping his shoulders with her paws, almost forgetting to keep her claws sheathed in her hatred towards the voice.

She stood there atop his back, panting. Her eyes were trained on the cat beneath her, but as she stepped off of her mentor, they shifted to the six other cats around the hollow, all open mouthed and staring at her.

"Wow," Shinepaw mewed, too impressed to say anything else.

"How did you do that?" Whiskerpaw gaped, eyes wide in disbelief.

Screechpaw looked around at them. Hadn't they all learned the same thing?

Ruffleslash seemed to have read her mind. "I taught her a new move to help her learn the leap and hold," he explained to the other cats.

"Well, you didn't need to," Smokeleg meowed. "But it's great that you did! How many times did it take you to perfect that, Screechpaw?"

 _Perfect that . . . ._ He had said that she had perfected it! Was that the same thing as mastering it?

"Two times," Ruffleslash answered for her.

"Two times!?" The other cats exclaimed in unison.

"That's insane!" Batpaw said.

 _That's not the only thing that's insane,_ the voice snarled.

 _Stop it!_

"Well," Smokeleg meowed. "I don't think you need to work on it any more. You two can leave if you like."

Screechpaw looked at her mentor, victory and happiness lighting up her face. He just rolled his eyes in defeat as they padded out of the hollow, the eyes of the others still trained on them.

"Then I mastered it?" Screechpaw pushed.

"I wouldn't exactly say that you 'mastered' it," Ruffleslash mewed. "But that was pretty amazing. You definitely earned your extra hunting practice."

Screechpaw hopped on her paws, some of the white sand falling to the ground from the movement. "Cool! Where at?"

"Let's try the ShadowClan border."

They walked through the forest, stopping near the pine forest, but not near enough to sense anything other than the sappy scent of the trees.

"When you're hunting mice," Ruffleslash quizzed. "How do you step?"

Screechpaw bit her lip in concentration, trying to recall the lesson that she had been taught days before. "You have to walk lightly."

"And why?"

"Because they can feel the vibrations in the ground."

"Right." Ruffleslash scented the air. "Now, try to catch at least one mouse, then we can head back to camp."

Screechpaw nodded, opening her jaws to scent the air, almost immediately picking up mouse. She looked around, seeing the tiny creature scuffling around the roots of a tree not five tail lengths away.

She dropped into a crouch, making sure to step lightly as she crept across the floor, dodging leaves and avoiding twigs all the while. She kept one eye on the mouse and one eye on the path she would take to get to it.

 _It's just a mouse. It's basic. I can handle it._

The mouse stayed where it was, unaware of its upcoming doom. Its only thoughts were to get its food, get to shelter, and repeat. It was so oblivious.

Screechpaw leapt on it, her claws impaling the animal through the neck and making its death quick and clean, as painless as possible. As humane as possible to the cats in the forest.

The apprentice glanced down at her catch, about to pick it up and carry it off, but recoiled in horror at what was in her paws.

It was the body of Poolkit, crippled and bloody. The white, ginger, and black kit's corpse was mangled, her neck snapped, the head twisted unnaturally and wide eyes staring straight at Screechpaw. The jaws were parted, blood dribbling out and seeping into the soil, and a wail rose from them, gurgling and bubbly from her ripped throat.

As Screechpaw watched, terrified, the distorted body got up, the broken bones making grotesque snapping and cracking noises in the process. The bloodied carcass stood silently, having to stand at an angle so that the head could stare at the shuddering apprentice.

Screechpaw backed away from the thing, starting to hyperventilate as it took a staggering step forward, the head swinging even more as the snapped neck failed to give support. Screechpaw yelped in pain and fear as she tripped over a root and fell to the ground, unable to get away.

"Screechpaw," Poolkit said, drawing the word out, long and endless, the haunted ringing of it echoing inside of Screechpaw's mind. "Screechpaw."

"What!?"Screechpaw shrieked at the thing, trying to tug her snagged paw away from the root, pure terror making her completely forget the pain of her leg as she tore at it with her claws. "What, what do you want from me?!"

"Screechpaw," it repeated, drawing even closer now. Screechpaw watched as the head, which had been tilted so that the ears were pointed off to the right, twitched and rotated completely around the neck, coming to rest in the same place as before, the gore of the inner throat becoming visible. The head gave another shudder before it gave out again, falling towards the ground, bouncing slightly due to the gravity and unreliability of the neck.

It took another step forward, but the legs gave out and Poolkit fell to the ground, her body falling across Screechpaw's legs. The apprentice screeched in utter terror as the dead cat stared up at her with lifeless eyes that still managed to chill her to the bone and make her stomach heave.

Screechpaw tried to get away, but her stuck paw prevented her from moving at all. She ripped at her paw, trying to get it narrow enough to escape, but no progress was made.

"Go away!" she shrieked at the corpse, covering her ears, screwing her eyes shut, screeching with all her might. "Leave!" She screamed, a blood curling noise that somehow was not enough to move Poolkit away. It was so loud that her ears ached, but she didn't stop. She wouldn't stop until the carcass was gone.

A warmth suddenly enveloped her, surprising her into ceasing her frightened wails. Screechpaw's horror only doubled as her mind concocted possible answers to what could've been creating the feeling. Scared beyond what she could've that possible, she found enough courage within her to open her eyes.

Screechpaw was shocked to see dark ginger fogging her vision. She looked up to see her mentor curled around her tightly, his warm fur pressed against her, doing its best to heat up her frozen blood. His head was buried deep in her fur, and Screechpaw saw his mouth moving as he talked.

But what he said she did not know. The sound of her shrieks and the corpse's words still reverberated around her mind, the only thing that was occupying it, other than the loud voices that were always within her brain. She just pressed her face into the ginger fur some more, letting Ruffleslash's calming presence work its magic.

She breathed, trying to slow the freaked out rasps that escaped her, and slowly, ever so slowly, they finally resumed their normal rhythms. She kept her head buried in the fur, though, until Ruffleslash looked down at her, Screechpaw finally being able to hear his words. "It's okay."

Aspenpaw looked back up at him, and his heart shattered at the expression in her blue green eyes: fear. Nothing but fear. He should've helped her, should've prevented her from becoming this broken.

But what had happened to his apprentice? He had watched her the whole time, too confused and petrified to interfere until she started screaming. All that had happened was she caught a mouse, then freaked out, tripped, tried to cut off her own paw, or so it looked, and then shrieked.

 _Stupid,_ he scolded himself. _Why didn't you help her immediately?_

 _Because I didn't know what to do!_ he argued.

He quit fighting with himself and turned his attention back to Aspenpaw. "Aspenpaw, you're okay. You're with me, you're safe."

Screechpaw looked into his bright green eyes, wanting to believe him. "I'm not safe. Not while that thing is near me."

His face frowned in confusion and worry at her words. "What do you mean?"

Screechpaw whimpered. How had he missed Poolkit? "You know, right over there—"

She turned to where the corpse had been lying, but was left gaping as she stared at the empty patch of forest ground, no blood or anything that would've announced the dead kit's attendance.

"What?! How did she . . . ." Screechpaw mewed, frantically trying to make sense of things.

"Stop," Ruffleslash meowed gently, forcing her to make eye contact. "Aspenpaw, stop." Screechpaw stared into his green eyes obediently as he continued. "Just relax. It's been a long day, I get that, so let's go back to camp and we can have tomorrow off. Are you fine with that?"

Screechpaw nodded as she gazed, hypnotized, into his eyes.

"Okay then," he whispered. "Let's go back. I'll grab your mouse."

He gently stood up and retrieved the piece of freshkill while Screechpaw removed her paw from the root, an easy thing to do now that she wasn't having a breakdown, but Ruffleslash quickly dropped it when he saw that his apprentice was shivering from fright, the mouse the cause of it.

"I'll just . . . ." He quickly dug a hole and dropped the prey in, promising himself that he would retrieve it later as he guided his shaken apprentice away from the area.

They walked in silence, Ruffleslash with his tail across Screechpaw's shoulders to help her walk.

 _What's wrong with me?_ she asked _._

The voice didn't answer, and Screechpaw wondered if she had asked _it_ the question or if she was just thinking to herself. Even if she was thinking to herself, though, the voice would usually interrupt. Why not now?

Was it because of what had just happened? But what had just happened? Screechpaw shook as she recalled the traumatizing event that had just occurred. She knew that no matter how hard she tried, she would never be able to erase the image of Poolkit's rotting carcass from her mind.

"I'll tell you what," Ruffleslash said, interrupting Screechpaw's thought in the way that the voice had so often done. "Once we get back to camp, I'm asking Blazestar if you can go to the Gathering tomorrow."

Screechpaw's ears shot up as the new topic shoved the old one to the back of her mind. "Really?"

Ruffleslash nodded. "Of course. You've been awesome this moon; you deserve it more than any other apprentice."

Screechpaw padded on through the forest, keeping quiet until she finally spoke. "Thank you."

"Any time." Then Ruffleslash looked at her and winked. And though the day had been one of the most awful ones of her life, Screechpaw couldn't help but smiling.

. . . ….. . . .

The dead she-cat looked down at Screechpaw as she and her mentor padded into the ThunderClan camp, feeling completely dejected at the apprentice's happiness.

 _I thought that that was an enough to scare the life out of that killer,_ she snarled to herself, lashing her tail. _I suppose something else will have to be done to ruin her life._

She watched as Screechpaw was immediately greeted by the other apprentices, who all were talking about her amazing skill during battle practice and how great she had been. Screechpaw thanked them all and purred as they talked, but was obviously not actually paying attention to them.

She wasn't paying attention, that is, until her father walked up. He pulled her aside and individually praised her about her amazing job with the battle moves, proudly puffing out his chest as he recalled her moves. Screechpaw was beaming at his words, her good mood now entirely back.

Screechpaw grinned as her father congratulated her one more time before he padded away to go and brag to some other warriors about his daughter. The apprentice sat and stared cheerfully, gazing around the clearing contentedly.

Up above the forest, a tiny spark lit up in the dead she-cat's head. Yes, it was there. If she was only to nurture it, then it would grow into an amazing scheme. The more she thought about it, the wider her malicious smile grew across her once pleasant face.

Oh, this plan would work all right. And it would leave that kit's life even more broken and crazed than before.

But to have it completely play out, she had to go and talk to one other cat. Without him, the plan could never work. And she had a feeling that he would agree to help. After all, she wasn't the only cat in the clans that had a grudge against the apprentice.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw padded over to the apprentice's den, shaking her head to try to clear it of the voice's strange grip that it always had over the silver and black tabby's thoughts. Yes, she was happy despite the sight of that corpse, but that didn't keep the voice away from her mind.

 _Just go away!_ she think-yelled at the voice as she curled up in her nest, kneading it with her paws just a little bit too hard out of her frustration, some of the pieces being flung out of the den.

 _No. I'll never go away._

 _Why?_

 _Because. You ruined my life. Now, I'm going to ruin yours._

Those words stopped her in her tracks. She had ruined the voice's life? That couldn't be right, the only life that she had supposedly ruined belonged to—

No. It couldn't be. There was no way. She would never do that. Not the innocent cat that Screechpaw knew. Sure, she had seen the cat with her own eyes torment her, haunt her, but that was her own crazed imagination, wasn't it?

 _Hey, voice?_

 _Yes, my lovely little cat killer?_

 _If I guess who you are, will you tell me?_

 _Sure, whatever. Shoot._

Screechpaw took a deep breath before she asked the dreaded answer that she knew the answer to deep in her heart.

 _Are you Poolkit?_

There was a pause in the conversation, as if the cat on the other end of the conversation was thinking. Why would she need to think? Before Screechpaw could further her thoughts, the voice replied, the words forming a knot of horror in Screechpaw's stomach.

 _Yes. I'm Poolkit._

. . . ….. . . .

 **5091 words. I cannot even express to you how exhausted I am. That took so long to write. Omg.**

 **So did you like it? I hope so, this breakdown was pretty intense! I thought at least.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE APPRENTICE'S WARRIOR NAMES POLL! THERE ARE SOME AMAZING CHOICES!**

 **QOTDT: who is the tom that the dead she cat is going to go and talk to? Who is the dead she cat? (2 q's)**

 **Ok thank u so much! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I am so excited to see what you guys have to say about this chapter!**

 **Ok byeeeeee! Keep your eyes open for the next update!**


	22. The Threatened Gathered

**Hey peoples!**

 **First off, I want to say that whoever is pretending to be MyDearNewt, I don't know why you're doing that, but stop it. I'm not mad yet, but if u continue to do what ur doing, then I will be. So seriously, stop. If u want to review, then just review as yourself. U don't even have to say that u were the one who pretended to be MDN, ok, but just stop it. Seriously.**

 **K, on with the chapter!**

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw lay on her belly, paying no attention to the happenings around her. Cats were scurrying about, apprentices were begging mentors, and the cats of higher rankings were picking and choosing. Screechpaw didn't care, she was going to the Gathering anyways. Her mentor had told her that morning that Blazestar had allowed it, the ginger and black leader saying so begrudgingly but saying it nonetheless. He clearly hadn't yet come to forgive her for killing his only daughter.

In all honesty, Screechpaw didn't want to go to the Gathering anymore. After being told that the voice in her head was Poolkit, she hadn't felt like doing anything but curling up in a hole and emptying the contents of her stomach. If only there was a hole nearby.

She should've been excited to go to her first Gathering, but she just wasn't. Not only was she exhausted from her constant tossing and turning from the night before, but she was also in a scathing mood. Was it because of Poolkit? She wasn't quite sure.

Screechpaw was still in shock that the voice that had been so hurtful and malicious belonged to the fun loving kit she had known before. How could she have changed so vastly just by dying?

 _Wouldn't you be upset if your life was ripped from you before you could even learn how to properly hunt or fight? And all because of a friend's mistake?_

 _I suppose, but I wouldn't torture you for it!_

 _You don't know how you would act._

 _That's true. But we were friends when you were alive! I thought you and I would always be great friends, so why are you doing this to me?_

 _I've already said, you ruined my life!_

 _But we could still be friends!_

 _No. Never again._

Screechpaw sighed as she stared off into the distance. She didn't know why Poolkit was acting this way. The characteristics of her before and after her death were so completely different that you would think they weren't even the same cat. But this had to be Poolkit, she said so herself. Besides, she had seen her many times before, like with the mouse corpse and during her apprentice ceremony. Who else could it have been if it wasn't Poolkit?

 _I'm sorry. I really am._

 _Well that doesn't make me alive, does it?_

 _No._

"Come on, Aspenpaw." She was jerked out of her inward conversation when her mentor called to her across the clearing, earning some odd glances from some other warriors at how he addressed her. "We're going to the Gathering."

Screechpaw went over to the patrol, which consisted of Ruffleslash, Flamelick, Wonderstrength, Shinepaw, Whiskerpaw, Batpaw, Shadowpelt, Skyheart, Fangshadow, Tailstripe, Rockpelt, Smokeleg, and Blazestar.

At the leader's signal, the cats flooded out of camp, heading towards the ShadowClan border. Ever since WindClan had been hostile to the forest cats, which had been for a long time, they had decided on travelling through their other neighboring clan's territory to get to the island. The pine cats hadn't seemed to mind much, but they were still suspicious, as their customary beliefs wouldn't allow them to trust the "mysterious" ThunderClan cats.

Screechpaw fell in next to Wonderstrength as they padded along the shore. They walked along quietly, each in their own minds, until Wonderstrength broke the silence. "So are you excited to go to your first Gathering?"

Screechpaw shrugged. "I guess so."

"You guess so?" Wonderstrength repeated, scoffing slightly. "You don't seem all that excited, care to say why?"

Screechpaw thought it over in her head. If she told her that a dead kit was talking to her in her mind, then the ginger and white warrior would never speak to her ever again out of thinking she was insane.

 _You are insane._

 _Whatever._

So no, there was no way that she would ever, _could_ ever tell her.

"I'm just tired," she mewed, which was at least partially true.

"You didn't do any training at all today. You just hung out with Ruffleslash. How could you be tired? And why didn't you guys do anything?"

Screechpaw hesitated. Now what?

"I didn't get any sleep last night because I was too excited for the Gathering. I'm not as pumped for it now because I'm really tired."

"Why didn't you guys do anything yesterday, though?"

Screechpaw was stumped on what to say for that one. "I don't know, I guess I've been doing so well that Ruffleslash just let me have the day off."

Wonderstrength didn't buy that. Not even a little bit. But she let it slide; if Screechpaw didn't want to tell her, then why bother?

"Anyways," the warrior meowed. "I bet you're at least excited to see the other clans, right?"

"Yeah," Screechpaw said. "I made a few friends in WindClan and I'll probably get to see them." She thought about Wolfpaw and Spikepaw. The three hadn't seen each other since that day at the border with Thornstar and Nettlesting, none of them having had been able to communicate a specific time to meet. Not like she would have really wanted to get up at moonhigh to go and see them. The past moon had been utterly exhausting, and she knew that she couldn't have had the strength to get out of her too comfortable nest.

 _Yeah, like they would want to see you ever again. I bet they'd like me a thousand times more than they like you if I were alive._

 _How would you know if they'd like you? You never even met them!_

The voice didn't respond. Why not, Screechpaw didn't know or care. Her attention had shifted to the island that was in front of her, rising out of the lake like a giant bubble of blood from a laceration. She gaped in amazement at the size of it. She hadn't expected it to be so large, though she should've known better. After all, it did have to hold a large portion of every clan on it once a moon.

ThunderClan waited patiently for their turn to cross the tree bridge, RiverClan going across first, having had arrived a moment before the forest clan. Now Screechpaw was excited, pressing her paws into the ground in raw anticipation.

Wonderstrength purred as she watched her, remembering that she had been exactly like the silver and black tabby at her first Gathering.

Blazestar jumped across the tree once the other clan had fully passed, not waiting for the rest of the cats as he bounded into the underbrush of the island. Screechpaw waited impatiently next to Wonderstrength until it was their turn to cross.

She stepped onto the bridge, surprised at how slippery it was. She eased herself fully onto it, now unsure about her previous ecstasy, the sleekness of the tree making her panic slightly. What if she fell off? She couldn't swim!

The bridge bounced slightly at the presence of another cat and Screechpaw relaxed, knowing that Wonderstrength would be behind her the whole time. She carefully began making her way along the tree, unsheathing her claws and gripping the wood for every step she took. Every now and then, she would look back at the warrior, then proceed at her encouraging smile and nod.

When Screechpaw was finally a tail length from the end of the tree, she gave a tremendous leap and flew onto dry, steady land. She sank to the ground, relieved that she could finally walk without the fear of getting wet while doing so.

She turned to Wonderstrength at the sound of her amused purr. "Good job! At my first Gathering, I almost fell off of the bridge, but my mentor caught me before I could go into the water!"

Screechpaw grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah. I remember that my first Gathering was actually pretty boring, though. This one won't be, I promise you that."

Screechpaw swallowed nervously as the she-cat growled to herself and prowled off into the trees of the island.

 _What was that about?_

 _As if you don't know._

 _I don't know. Do you, Poolkit?_

 _Yes. And don't call me that!_

 _Why not?_

 _Because . . . I, uhh, don't like my name._

 _That's a stupid reason._

 _Do you like your name?_

 _Not really, but I've gotten used to it so I don't really mind it all that much. Though I would definitely prefer to be called Aspenpaw._

 _And I would prefer to be called anything but Poolkit._

 _But why? And don't say it's because you don't like your name._

 _I don't have to tell you why._

 _Well I'm still going to call you Poolkit._

 _And you wonder why I don't like you anymore._

Screechpaw sighed as she pushed her way through the bushes of the island. Poolkit could be so mean. Well, she always was nowadays, what with her torturing Screechpaw and all. The apprentice knew that she would have to learn to live with it because it didn't seem like the voice would be taking a break anytime soon.

Screechpaw gasped as she pushed through one more bush and was greeted by the sights and sounds of a large clearing full to the brim of cats, all walking around and meowing to each other. She could detect the distinct, windy stench of WindClan, the pine smell of ShadowClan, and the fishy scent of what had to be RiverClan. At the head of the open space, a huge tree loomed over the warriors, its large limbs spread high over their heads, just starting to regain their leaves after the cold dread of leafbare. All of these new things confused the apprentice's senses, shrouding them and only confusing Screechpaw more than she had been before.

She yelped in surprise when she felt a tail smack her hind legs. Turning around, she saw Flamelick grumpily trying to get around her. "Get a move on, Screechpaw, other cats are trying to go to the Gathering, too."

Screechpaw stepped aside, realizing that she had been blocking one of the entrances into the clearing in her amazement and awe. Flamelick flicked his tail at her as he moved past and Shinepaw stood next to her.

"Don't take it personally," she mewed, sympathizing for her mentor. "He's still upset about Poolkit. I know it's been a while, but he's been holding onto hope." She looked after him sadly. "I wonder if he'll ever get better."

She gave her sister a small smile before padding after Flamelick, leaving Screechpaw to curiously ponder her words.

 _Hey, Poolkit, did you know that Flamelick liked you?_

 _Who?_

 _Flamelick, you know, Wonderstrength and Ruffleslash's brother?_

 _Oh, him. Yeah, I guess so._

 _Did you like him?_

 _Um, I don't want to talk about it._

 _Why not?_

 _I just don't._

"Screechpaw!" Screechpaw turned to Whiskerpaw as he called her over to where he was sitting next to Batpaw. "The Gathering's about to start!"

"Okay, I'm coming!" She walked over to them, lying down and sighing. Did Poolkit miss her brother? She'd ask later.

"This is so cool!" Batpaw mewed, staring around at all of the sights. "I want to go ask a RiverClan warrior how fish tastes!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The apprentices turned around to see Shadowpelt, Whiskerpaw's mentor, who sat down next to them.

"Why not?" Screechpaw asked.

"The clans have all been pretty separated ever since WindClan has been the way that they're acting. Even though we have no quarrel with ShadowClan or RiverClan, every clan is staying with their own during Gatherings. I doubt that there would be any problems if we talked to the other two clans that we're allied with, but it's better to stay on the safe side for now."

Screechpaw sighed as the other two apprentices slumped disappointedly to the ground. It made sense to only stay with other ThunderClan cats, but she had wanted to talk to Spikepaw and Wolfpaw.

 _I guess that won't be happening, then._

 _Trust me, Screechpaw, you're going to be seeing a lot of WindClan tonight._

 _What do you—?_

A yowl from the front of the clearing silenced Screechpaw's thought. Looking up at the tree, her fur bristled at the sight of Thornstar standing on a high branch, head proudly raised as he called the Gathering to a start. The other three leaders sat below him on the normal branch, all exchanging glances at his egotistical personality.

"The Gathering is starting!" he howled, then stepped back to let Moonstar talk.

The ShadowClan leader shot a suspicious look at the brown tabby, then began speaking. "ShadowClan has been well. The prey has been running plentifully and we have three new warriors: Bluefrost, Falconwing, and Lightningpelt." The clans, all but WindClan, of course, cheered for the new warriors, who held their heads high happily. "We have no other news, other than that we have been and will continue to remain strong." The black pelted she-cat with white dapples stepped back, respectfully dipping her head to the RiverClan leader, Palestar.

 _RiverClan is weak,_ Poolkit scoffed. _I could take on any of them and kill them easily._

 _You don't know that._

 _I do, actually._

 _Well shh, she's about to talk!_

 _I don't care._

Screechpaw ignored Poolkit, who kept talking bad about the other clan, as the long furred light grey leader nodded her head at the ShadowClan cat before making her announcements. "RiverClan, too, has been doing great through these newleaf moons. We have four new apprentices: Lilypaw, apprenticed to Salmonfur, Stormpaw, apprenticed to Shrimpclaw, Berrypaw, apprenticed to Rippleshade, and Streampaw, apprenticed to Wavelight."

The clans again cheered for the new apprentices, but Screechpaw didn't join in, too preoccupied with Poolkit. She could tell that there was something bothering the dead kit, her previous rant about RiverClan having had silenced abruptly.

 _Poolkit? What's wrong?_

 _N-nothing. I-i just . . . nothing._

 _Is it something about RiverClan?_

 _No! It's not—_

Screechpaw tried balancing on her hind legs to see the RiverClan cats, being scolded by Poolkit the whole time. She peered over the ears of the other cats, but the swimming clan was on the other side of the clearing and the apprentice couldn't see any of them. Sitting down again, she shrugged it off.

 _Poolkit's probably just upset because of some stupid reason. Maybe she just always wanted to meet a RiverClan cat._

 _Yeah. That's got to be it, Screechkitty._

Screechpaw didn't know if that last part was sarcastic or not. She turned her attention back to the Gathering, seeing that Blazestar was now speaking.

"After a harsh leafbare full of attacks from not only the freezing conditions"—the ginger and black tom shot a look at Thornstar—"ThunderClan is growing along with the bushes and trees of our territory. We have four new apprentices as well, Batpaw, Shinepaw, Whiskerpaw, and Screechpaw, their mentors being Smokeleg, Flamelick, Shadowpelt, and Ruffleslash. We also have two new warriors, Fangshadow and Skyheart."

Screechpaw's ears burned as the other clans called her name and the five others', feeling their eyes all burning into her pelt. She straightened her posture, wanting to make a good first impression on the three other clans. Thankfully, the cats turned their attention back to Blazestar soon after their cheers ceased.

"Toothshade has also given birth to Rockpelt's three kits, Bushkit, Robinkit, and Tulipkit." The proud father beamed at the mention of his three children. "ThunderClan is strong and we can and will take on anything and be victorious."

Blazestar glared at Thornstar as his clan yowled their support. The WindClan leader seemed unfazed as he stood.

"WindClan is, as it always has been, still the strongest of the clans. The new season changes nothing." The many cats below bristled in anger at his words, but said nothing because of the truce. "We have three new warriors, Cornfoot, Freezeheart, and Nettlesting." The other clans unwillingly called the warriors' names. "And we have two new apprentices, Spikepaw and Wolfpaw. Nettlesting has taken on Spikepaw as an apprentice and I have taken Wolfpaw as one."

The clans cheered their names, too, still angrily lashing their tails and flattening their ears. Screechpaw looked over the crowd to see her two friends sitting together, Spikepaw with his head held proudly, Wolfpaw sitting quietly and humbly. He saw Screechpaw looking at him and shot her a look full of question. She returned one that asked him why he was confused. He looked away. They would talk later.

Thornstar nodded once. "Now that those useless things are out of the way, it's time to get down to business." He turned to Blazestar and Palestar, his fur on end. "Your clans have been stealing from WindClan!"

Chaos erupted in the clearing as every cat from the three clans yowled, trying to get their outraged opinion heard. ShadowClan sat idly by, awkwardly watching the events play out.

"What?!" Blazestar screeched, his tail furiously lashing.

"How could you even think about accusing us of that?" Palestar yelled, her long pelt ruffled.

Thornstar shrugged. "I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm telling the truth. You're stealing from WindClan."

"That's crazy!" Batpaw gasped quietly, mouth agape.

Screechpaw growled in anger at the smug brown leader. "Don't say that around him. He prefers the term 'insane.'"

"In what ways have we been 'stealing' from you?" the RiverClan deputy, Stripechest, snarled. "Fish and territory is plentiful. We need nothing from you."

Thornstar flicked his tail. "How would I know your motives? All I know is that your clans are stealing from mine, and we will not tolerate it any longer."

"Tolerate?" Blazestar growled, his voice menacingly low. "Tolerate? You want to talk about toleration? You stole one of our kits! You tortured her and took away her innocence at the age of one moon! You drove her insane! If any clan has learned how to tolerate another one, it's ThunderClan! You're lucky we haven't wiped out your cursed clan for what you have done to her!"

As he shrieked at the WindClan leader, all other sounds in the clearing were silenced and the cats' gazes all turned to Screechpaw. If she thought her pelt was burning before, it was on fire now. Every cat was looking at her, knowing that she was the kit who had been taken by the moor clan.

One pair of eyes forced Screechpaw to look at them, high above the others, perched on the leader's tree. Thornstar stared at her, his eyes wide, basking in his own…victory? Smugness? Pride?

"Screechpaw, is it?" he growled, the only voice on the island, ringing out loud and clear. "Huh. She was right."

Screechpaw's blood turned cold at his dread filled words. What did that mean?

Thornstar snarled again before anyone could question his last statement. "ThunderClan and RiverClan! We have warned you! If you continue to steal from us, then you will pay! And I can promise you that you'll pay with more than you would like!"

With that, he leapt off of the tree and headed towards the tree bridge, his clan flooding after him, some snapping at the other clans as they passed.

The clearing went silent. No cat moved, no cat talked. Everyone inwardly processed what had just happened. Every single cat knew that the WindClan leader was lying, even if they belonged to the clan that did not border the moor clan.

Then, simultaneously, the clearing exploded in sound as every cat talked to another about what had just occurred. But what had just occurred?

 _Thornstar is crazy!_

 _Ah, ah, ah! Insane!_ Poolkit said.

 _Sorry, insane._

 _That's better._

In the chaos of the island, Screechpaw couldn't tell what was what and where was where. Where was the tree bridge? Where were her siblings? Was everyone okay?

She found herself crawling into the underbrush, huddling on the ground and fearfully closing her eyes, trying to block out the noises of the other cats, for once actually seeking out Poolkit.

 _Poolkit?!_

 _Don't call me that!_

 _Sorry, uhh, voice?!_ she corrected.

 _Yes?_

 _What do I do?_

 _What do you do about what? I can't read your mind._

 _Yes you can._

 _Shut up._

 _What do I do about Thornstar? What is he going to do to ThunderClan?_

 _I can't say._

 _So you know?_

 _I never said that._

 _Then you don't know?_

 _I never said that either._

 _Make up your mind!_

 _How can I do that? I am in your mind, after all._

 _Ughhh!_

 _Screechy, open your eyes._

 _Why?_

 _Because you're the only one on the island._

 _What?_ Screechpaw perked her ears, hearing only yelling and confused mews. _No I'm not, the other clans are still here, arguing about WindClan._

 _The only thing that is 'here' is your insanity._

Screechpaw opened her eyes to see the island clearing, completely deserted.

 _Your mind is the only thing that is screaming, you mouse brain!_

 _I figured that out!_

Screechpaw pushed out of the bush, pelting towards where the tree bridge had to be. Before she made it, though, a ginger pelt raced into her, making her yowl in surprise, and the two cats tumbled through the grass and bushes.

Screechpaw stood up shakily, unsheathing her claws, then blinked in surprise at who the cat was. "Flamelick?"

The ginger warrior shook his head as he got to his paws. "Screechpaw?" he meowed, his shock soon turning to something else, possibly defense, suspicion, or…fear? "What are you doing here? Why aren't you with the others?"

"I g-got lost!" she mewed. "I went the wrong way! Why are _you_ here?"

He stiffened slightly, but recovered quickly. "I was checking to make sure that there were no more ThunderClan cats on the island. Now let's go."

Screechpaw nodded and bolted off towards the bridge, the warrior following her. As they burst out of the trees, Screechpaw saw Ruffleslash pacing on the other side of the tree, hearing him sigh in relief at the sight of her under the bright full moon.

The apprentice jumped onto the bridge, praising StarClan when she made it across without slipping at all. Once Flamelick was across, the three cats raced through the ShadowClan trees, trying to catch up with the rest of the patrol.

When they were safely back in their own territory, the cats stopped, panting as they flopped down on the ground. Screechpaw took a deep breath, trying to replenish the air in her lungs, but froze at the scent that greeted her nose.

They were on the far side of their territory, just barely past the ShadowClan border. Then why did Screechpaw smell . . . .

"Let's go!" she screeched, tearing off without giving the two toms an explanation.

The ground fled by underneath her as she shot forward, the dark colors of the moonhigh forest a blur to her blue green eyes. A few thorns got stuck in her pads, but she bore them stubbornly and raced on. She soon saw the two ginger pelts of Ruffleslash and Flamelick next to her, them having had scented it too.

The three cats finally saw the thorn tunnel and ran through it, bursting out into the hollow and were met by the scene of shrieking cats ripping and biting each other. A loud yowl rang out, belonging to the WindClan leader.

"WindClan, attack! Don't stop until he is dead!"

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **3866 words! These past chapters have been REALLY long!**

 **I also want to say that when I give the word count of the chapter, it is ONLY the story part. I don't include author's notes or RR's. So the actual story part was 3866 words. ;)**

 **So the next chap will obviously be a battle. So yeah. THAT'LL BE EXCITING HOPEFULLY! If u have any tips on writing battles, don't be afraid to leave them in a review!**

 **Also wanted to say that I will always try to get a chapter in every 2 days, but that will not always happen, sadly :'( stupid school getting in the way of my life! Anywho, I'll do my best, but it won't always work out. Please understand, I really do try my best!**

 ** _OK READ THIS! ATTENTION! ITS SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT!_** **So do u guys remember the story "Five" that I put on one of the updates? Well I had to write another creative writing story for language arts. Would u guys like me to put it on the end of the next chapter? It doesn't have to do with "Five," but I still think it's pretty good. It's not really a story, more like a rant, but I got an 100% on it, so it must be good, right?...right? so let me know what u think!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE! DO IT! DO IT NOW! XD XD XD**

 **K, so 2 QOTDT's today, only 1 relates to this story.**

 **QOTDT 1) Who is the "he" that Thornstar wants dead?**

 **QOTDT 2) Who wrote "Starkit's Prophecy" and where can I find it? (I've heard that it's apparently a horrible story. Naturally, I want to read it :D)**

 **OK! Thank u guys! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! And don't forget to tell me what you think of the story so far!**

 **K byeeeee! I'll try to update soon!**


	23. The Battle for Death

**YAYYY BATTLE SCENE! It does not end happily though. Prepare yourselves.**

 **AND OMG I GOT TO 220 REVIEWS FROM LIKE 196 IN 1 CHAPTER! I GOT LIKE 24 REVIEWS! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! Please keep reviewing as much as you do! I can't even tell you guys how much they mean to me! U ROCK!**

 **HERE'S A ROLEPLAY FROM PEBBLEHEART25! SO FUNNY! XD XD XD**

 **Fishstar: "DolphinClan, AAAAAATTTTTTTAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKKK!"**

 **DolphinClan: Every cat charges at the tiny white she-kit.**

 **Pebbleheart-the-medicine-cat-who-seems-to-violent-to-be-a-medicine-cat: "SHOW NO MERCY!KILL THAT EVIL KIT!" She suddenly relizes that she's breaking the warrior code but injuring a kit. 'She doesn't follow the Code! She's in the Dark Forest!' the gray tabby thinks. "SHOW NO MERCY!"**

 **Cats from "When StarClan Gets Bored": The cats fly fighter jets above the writhing mass of cats and screech, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" over the walkies.**

 **DolphinClan: Back away from the now blood-red she-kit, hissing, snarling, and throwing insults, such as, "YOU PIECE OF FOX DUNG!"**

 **Cats from "When StarClan Gets Bored": "Ready, aim, FIRE!" They shoot the evil kit with jellybeans, which have no relevance to this short story, but I'm hungry so I added them.**

 **DolphinClan: They jump onto the kit again, and after five endless minutes (which for Pebbleheart went by too quickly), Poolkit was dead. Her body was thrown into thr lake, so she could be buried the same way she died... Which leads you to ask the question: "How could she have died on Earth twice?"**

 **Haha I thought that was great! XD XD XD**

 **Ok im tired im going to bed zzzzzzzzz here u go zzzzzzzzzzzzz**

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw flung herself into the writhing mass of shrieking cats before she knew what she was doing. Behind her, she heard Ruffleslash yowl in surprise, quickly followed by calling her name as she disappeared from his sight. The apprentice didn't care if her mentor approved of her fighting in the battle; she was going to help, and no one could convince her to do otherwise.

So what if she only knew a few moves? Even if Ruffleslash didn't think so, she had mastered them, so she was going to use them to the best of her ability. Of course she would get at least a little bit torn up, every warrior would. What was important was that she was fighting for her clan.

Screechpaw ran straight into a cream and brown WindClan tom, the two tumbling away from the greater hoard of battling warriors. The apprentice faced the cat, her fur lifting as she recognized him as Nettlesting. The tom shook himself off as he got to his paws, freezing as he saw who his opponent was.

"You," he snarled. "You're that stupid kit!"

Screechpaw's ears pressed to her head in rage as she hissed. "I'm no kit! Not anymore. I'm an apprentice!"

The two circled each other as they spat at the other cat. "That's funny," Nettlesting snarled. "Because you probably fight like you were still one moon old!"

Screechpaw unsheathed her claws angrily. "You want to bet?"

"Any day," the tom growled. "It's about time that someone in WindClan kills you, you little murderer!"

Screechpaw was caught off guard at that. Murderer? Had they somehow found out about Poolkit!

 _But I never killed her!_

 _No one else believes that._

 _What do you know? It's not like you can ask anyone to see what they think. You're dead._

 _Ouch._

 _I'm sorry, but it's true! I'd trade places with you in a second if I could! My life hasn't been turning out amazing at all! Or good. Or even okay. I'd rather be dead right now than—_

Screechpaw yowled in surprise as Nettlesting slammed into her, the tom ending up on top, his claws digging painfully into the apprentice's shoulders and haunches. She shrieked in agony as he tore them down her side, eventually finding enough strength within her to fling him off.

He skidded across the clearing, stopping himself before he could crash into the brambles of the nursery. He clawed the ground in frustration; he hadn't succeeded in killing the deranged cat on his first try. He'd do it eventually.

Screechpaw didn't let the WindClan tom go on the offensive this time. Before he could fully recover, she ran at him, ripping at his chest with her forepaws, hitting him blow after blow. He snarled in anger, flinging his paw out at her and catching her on the side of the head.

Screechpaw yowled and tried to blink away the pain, stumbling backwards and tripping over another cat, Wonderstrength. The warrior hissed, then laughed slightly when she realized that it was only Screechpaw who had "attacked" her, quickly going back to her own battle with a WindClan warrior.

Screechpaw got to her paws, immediately greeted by Nettlesting, who head butted her roughly on her side. She staggered, but remained on her feet, only to fall to the ground when Nettlesting swiped her legs out from underneath her with sheathed claws.

 _Sheathed claws? What?_

 _Nettlesting's playing with you. He thinks you're nothing. He's right, of course._

 _What do I do?_

 _Well, my personal opinion would be to let him kill you and rid the clans of your cold blooded ways._

 _You're no help._

 _I try._

Screechpaw growled in anger at the tom above her as he pressed his paw into her head, shoving it towards the ground. She had to prove to the smug WindClan warrior that she was strong! But she couldn't do that if she couldn't even get up.

Screechpaw heaved, trying to get the large tom off of her, but he only dug his claws in harder and laughed ruthlessly at her attempts. The apprentice tried to claw at him, but she couldn't reach him because of how he was standing.

"No wonder Thornstar liked beating you!" Nettlesting snickered, digging his claws in even more until Screechpaw whimpered pathetically. "I knew—"

The WindClan warrior's mew was cut off and quickly turned into a shriek of shock as he was thrown off of the apprentice. Screechpaw struggled to her paws, shaking her pelt to try to get the blood off of it.

She looked to see what had happened and saw Wolfpaw next to Nettlesting, the warrior yelling at the brown and grey apprentice, who was pretending to look ashamed. Screechpaw smiled slightly as she realized that he had been the one to throw her opponent off.

Quickly, so fast that if Screechpaw had blinked, she'd have missed it, Wolfpaw shot her a look full of amusement and . . . something else. The ThunderClan apprentice couldn't tell exactly what.

She watched as Wolfpaw nodded at Nettlesting and dove back into the battle, going to find some other cat to go up against. The brown and cream cat just scowled at where he had been, turning back to Screechpaw.

"You useless apprentice! If he hadn't done that, you'd be dead!" Nettlesting snapped to Screechpaw, then muttered to himself angrily under his breath. "Dumb apprentices, not being able to tell who's from what clan."

The two cats circled each other again, Screechpaw trying to calm her fast breathing; it was her first battle, of course she was excited. Well, at least the first battle she could fight in. She had reason to be nervous.

 _Just calm down, you can do this! You'll turn out alright!_

 _But not everyone will._

 _What does that—_

Nettlesting jumped forward and Screechpaw barely had enough time to get out of the way before he came crashing down in the exact place where she had been, only a tail length from where she now was. Acting quickly, she slammed her forepaws into his side to unbalance him, then bit his tail as hard as she could. They weren't "moves" that Ruffleslash had taught her, she was just going off of her first instinct.

 _I'll never win this fight if I don't start actual moves, though! Think, Screechpaw!_

In an instant, the apprentice remembered her training session with Ruffleslash from the day before and the leap and hold move that he had taught her.

 _Okay, I can do this! I mastered it, right?_

Screechpaw faced Nettlesting as he got to his paws, his eyes ablaze in hatred. The ThunderClan cat, after a deep breath, ran straight towards the tom, who just smirked, thinking he knew exactly what she was going to do. He was wrong.

Screechpaw ran faster and faster, Nettlesting drawing closer all the while.

 _Not yet…_

Screechpaw ran on.

 _Almost…_

Screechpaw was so close that she could see the whiskers on his smug muzzle.

 _Now!_

Screechpaw bunched her muscles beneath her as she flew across the ground, giving a tremendous leap that carried her over Nettlesting. She hit the ground, standing on her paws, with her hindquarters facing the tom's. On impact with the ground, she balanced on her forepaws, kicking out viciously with her hind legs and powerfully slamming them into Nettlesting's.

The tom grunted as his legs gave out beneath him and he fell to the ground. In the blink or an eye, Screechpaw was on his back, unsheathed claws digging into his shoulders and haunches.

Nettlesting snarled angrily as he got to his paws, struggling beneath the extra cat's weight added on top of his own. He tried biting her paws, but the apprentice moved them every time his teeth got near. He resorted to slamming his side into the camp wall, but Screechpaw, determined as she was, hung on, gritting her teeth as a few thorns got stuck in her tabby pelt. But for every thorn that was in her fur, Nettlesting had five more.

The tom finally let out an angry yowl, then dropped to the ground and rolled, as quick as a flash. Screechpaw, not having enough time to react, was caught underneath the enraged WindClan warrior, letting out a small squeak of pain as he squished her into the dusty floor of the hollow.

Screechpaw gasped as he easily jumped away from her, then placed one unsheathed paw on her throat, forcing it to uncomfortably prick her skin, his three other legs working to hold her down.

"That's enough!" Nettlesting meowed, his voice low and dangerous as he leaned in towards her. "I'm done play fighting with you. Now you die."

His unsheathed claws went further into Screechpaw's neck, making her struggle for breath. She felt a warm liquid on her neck, blood.

"Too bad that dumb apprentice isn't here to accidentally save you now," the warrior spat. "Not like that made a difference, though. You _do_ fight like a kit, and someone would've killed you even if I wasn't going to."

Screechpaw let out a small whimper, trying to get out from underneath the cat, trying to bite him or claw him, do anything to him. But he was too strong and his heavy paws were pressing her into the ground. She stopped struggling.

"There's a good kit," he growled as she slowed her attempts. "It's time for you to die like the little murderer you are!"

Screechpaw closed her eyes as she felt his jaws close around her neck. They tightened around them, the warrior clearly wanting to make her death as long and painful as possible.

 _You'll finally die for what you've done._

Screechpaw wasn't sure whether the voice in her head was her own or Poolkit's. She didn't care. She'd be seeing her old friend in a matter of moments, anyways.

Screechpaw let out a small moan as the jaws around her throat gave a sudden yank, her eyes still screwed shut. They didn't stay that way for long. She opened her eyes as she felt the teeth being ripped away from her throat, bringing some of her black and silver fur with them.

She breathed in the most beautiful, refreshing air she had ever known before, the oxygen rushing down her throat and filling the lungs that hadn't had a visitor since Nettlesting had tried to choke them. The apprentice lay there, gasping, until she had enough sense to see who had saved her, having means to look for that cat for the second time that day. Only it wasn't Wolfpaw this time.

It was Ruffleslash, his dark ginger fur fluffed up in fury, his claws a blur as they struck at Nettlesting time and time again. The cream and brown cat tried to fight back, but he was getting too confused from all that the ThunderClan warrior was doing.

Ruffleslash gave one last strength filled swipe, cutting through the air and tearing Nettlesting's right ear horribly. The moor cat screeched in pain, his ear spurting blood, which ran down his face like water. His ruined ear, now a glob of mangled blood, hung limply from his head.

"Go," Ruffleslash snapped at him. "And never try to hurt my apprentice again."

Nettlesting shot one last loathing glare at Screechpaw before he ran through the thorn tunnel, clearly trying to ease the pain in his ear in the way he favored the right side of his head.

From what Screechpaw could see, it looked like the other WindClan cats were doing the same, retreating from the camp. She looked around the clearing, seeing many cats still fighting, though the majority of them were ThunderClan. Wonderstrength, limping leg and all, was fighting Cornfoot, a tabby cream WindClan tom, striking him over the head repeatedly. Toothshade, who had left her three kits with Wingfeather, was fighting two WindClan warriors side by side with her mate, Rockpelt. Terror, who was actually managing to look somewhat bored, was fighting three cats, Beeflight, Hedgeleaf, and Spikepaw, and winning. Flamelick fought besides Shinepaw, the two matching each other blow for blow against a she-cat, Strawpelt, who was looking quite confused.

But of all of the cats that Screechpaw saw, who she sought out, one particular cat was missing from the scene of fighting.

 _Where is he?_

 _You'll find out._

"Screechpaw!" The apprentice turned at her name, going to go and fight besides her mother as she took on Cutfeather, a strong WindClan she-cat.

Mother and daughter, working side by side, jabbed and tore at the cat, who hissed in pain and frustration. Glacierfire swiped, Screechpaw ducked and nipped at the cat's paws. Glacierfire bit, Screechpaw ripped at Cutfeather's yellow and tortoiseshell fur.

Screechpaw lunged forward, stopped, then raked her claws down her enemies face as the she-cat tried to jump at her. Her mother stood next to her, purring proudly as Cutfeather let out a yelp of pain, shrinking away from the pair.

"Nice!" Glacierfire praised. "Let's finish her off together!"

Screechpaw nodded and they stood next to each other, the almost identical cats' paws working at their opponent as they advanced, pushing her back towards the thorn tunnel. Cutfeather's ears were pressed against her head as she tried to think a way out of the situation, but the repeated blows to her pelt weren't helping her. She finally surrendered, lashing her tail and spitting at the cats for the final time before she turned around and raced through the tunnel and out into the forest beyond.

Screechpaw yowled in victory as she watched her go. Her smile only grew as the rest of the moor cats fled, orders from their leader commanding them to retreat.

 _Where is Thornstar, anyways?_

She turned at a growl from above, seeing the brown tabby tom stare down at the camp and the ThunderClan cats within it from a perch above the hollow.

"You puny kits!" he meowed. "You're too weak to kill others to win!"

"A warrior mustn't kill in order to win a battle!" Tailstripe, a senior warrior called. "A true warrior shows mercy!"

Thornstar just laughed. "Then I suppose my clan doesn't consist of any true warriors today." The leader smirked, his gaze shooting over to the corner of the camp before he flicked his tail and was gone, shooting off towards his own territory.

Screechpaw's ears flicked in suspicion and worry. _Wait, does that mean that his clan_ did _kill someone?_

 _You tell me._

 _But who?_

Screechpaw frantically looked about the clearing, her blue green eyes darting about. She couldn't see anyone dead or any bodies lying around.

But then she looked to her mentor and froze. His green eyes were wide as he stared back at her. His mouth was parted, as if he wanted to say something to his apprentice, but he couldn't manage it. His head shook sadly, his eyes filled to the brim with heartbreak for Screechpaw and overwhelming shock and sadness.

Screechpaw looked at him, confused and frightened at why he was acting this way. Had someone hurt him?

The ginger and black warrior finally croaked out a few words to the black and silver apprentice. "I-I'm so sorry, Aspenpaw." Then his gaze flickered from her face to just past her shoulder, resting on something that Screechpaw had not noticed before.

She whipped around, heart clenching in fear for what it could be, but also in hope that it wasn't as bad as it seemed.

It was. As she drew closer to where her mentor was staring, her eyes slowly recognized an ominously still pelt lying in the shadows of the camp. It was what Thornstar had been staring at before he disappeared.

Despite her better judgement, Screechpaw still clung to the hope that the cat in the corner wasn't who she thought it was. It couldn't be who she saw it to be. But as she collapsed next to the dead body, she let out the most ear shattering shriek that had ever been heard by any cat. The cat _was_ who it had been, who she had seen. As a kit, she had thought him as invincible, the sturdiest tree unable to fall. But he had. He had been killed.

Smokeleg was dead.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2704! Not bad for a battle scene!**

 **AND OH NO IT WAS SMOKELEG! Almost no one guessed that it was him for the QOTDT from last chapter. I hope that that means that this was a shocker, then! There was a HUGE hint at the end of chapter 21, when the dead she-cat was watching Screechpaw go back into the camp and when she was talking to Smokeleg. Go back and read that part if you want (it's not long)! And tell me in a review or shoot me a pm of what u thought about this chapter or the story as a whole!**

 **This is another one of those things that kind of starts a big part of the story, but it starts it in a subtle kind of way. You'll see later.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL FOR THE APPRENTICES' WARRIOR NAMES!**

 **QOTDT: what big event/chain of events will happen because of Smokeleg's death? Aka what important things will happen because of his death? (for example, Aspenkit going into WindClan caused her to meet two very important cats, Spikekit and Wolfkit. What will happen to Screechpaw that is important like this because of her father's death?)**

 **Ok bye! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Look out for the next chapter!**

 **Oh and I almost forgot! Here's the creative writing that I wrote for this quarter! Enjoy!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

She looked down at the gaping chasm just past her feet, the hungry flames licking at the walls of the pit. The bright arms of furious heat reached up at her, but could not grab her, pull her down with them. After all, she had created them.

The screaming, shadowy silhouettes of the souls being tortured by the excruciating creature that was the product of, or could be the product of, two twigs, or, say, a lightning bolt, didn't cease their shrieks as the night wore on. All the while, she stood there, watching, waiting, smiling. As sad as it was to say, this brought her great joy, to watch the burning of the things below her.

They did deserve it, after all. The lies that they brought to the world did no good. Actually, more accurately, it brought good. And any good at all was too much for her. The world couldn't run off of that, of something positive.

So who were these souls, these things that brought this horrible monster to this world? The monster that drives people to help others? To buy their child that extra gift for Christmas? To carry the old lady's groceries up to her apartment for her?

It was a simple answer to some, yet as confusing and baffling as the universe to others. It simply depended on how each person lived their life. If they lived it like a wimp, caring about others, than it was an obvious answer. If they were strong, than the answer was not quite as visible. But no matter what their background was, it didn't matter. The answer was still the same.

The horrible, grotesque monster that brought vile garbage to her mouth every time that she thought about it was only one thing: Kindness. Oh, how she loathed the word and the action alike. It was the thing of simpletons, of freaks who were too weak to push down an elder to get what they wanted.

Indeed, that was the only way to win at life: to get what you wanted at all costs. Kindness ruined that goal. It was not just a bump on the road of perseverance, but a wall that stretched into infinity no matter what way you turned. Yes, she thought to herself, it was useless, wimpy, unneeded. Without it, humankind would be better off.

Which was why she was doing what she was doing. But what was it that she was doing, you ask? She chuckled slightly as she looked down into the chasm. Why, she was burning Kindness, of course! Kindness and all of his ways! With him gone, then she could take over, have full power of the world and its inhabitants.

You see, a world full of Kindness just wasn't worth ruling over. It would be like controlling a hoard of respectful robots. They would never evolve to become the killing machines that they had so often been portrayed as. For she believed that those robots wouldn't want to serve such a puny race such as the humans. They were a respectable people, not the mindless losers who walked about the earth today, polluting the environment with their sappy words of thankfulness and happiness. Soon, humankind would be like those dystopian gadgets, having the free will to do anything. Well, the free will to do anything but have a shred of Kindness within them, of course.

She looked down at the fire, the flames forcing an elaborate pattern to dance across her dark face. She sighed, both content with herself and feeling contempt for the squirming things below her. So often she had used to get the two words mixed up. So often she had thought the latter the same as the first. So wrong she had been. Yet as evil, menacing, and, if you will, bloodthirsty, that she was, it was still possible for her to feel both words deep within her. And how pleasant it was when she did. Not that she liked the feeling of Pleasantness. She should have thrown her into the pit, too.

For Kindness wasn't alone in his eternal pit of suffering. There was also Sympathy and her brother, Empathy, Happiness, Love (it made her vomit), Patience, Peace, Hope, and many more accompanying them. If they had been left in the world, then the fender of life would have been merely scratched by the removal of kindness. No, the entire plate had to be licked clean, the whole sheet of paper erased of its imperfections. Only then could the dishes be washed, could the artist make his or her masterpiece.

But who was this world famous artist, this gourmet chef known worldwide? In this question, the tables were turned so unpredictably. Before, those with Kindness in their hearts knew who he was. Those same weaklings ask who this soul is, this thing, a monster to them, who wiped out their precious Kindness. And they wouldn't know the answer due to their flimsy personas.

On the other hand, those who were unaware of, so blissfully oblivious of Kindness, raise their hands as eagerly as a schoolgirl, knowing quickly who this creature is. For they had studied in her ways for years, growing stronger in her knowledge as every second, every moment, crawled by. Yes, she was like their mothers, always there to lend a helpful hand. Well, not really. She despised Helpfulness too. In fact, at the thought, she threw her into the pit, hearing her friends greet her sadly.

Yes, the answer was, yet again, obvious to some, not to others. But still, no matter what, she was Hatred. She was the thing that drove the majority of the population of the world to do what they did. And she loved her job. Eww. Love. As usual, the word made her want to barf. Hatred swallowed the gross substance; she could think about Love later. That thing had definitely earned her place in the fiery chasm. And they called Hatred a monster!

Yes, the soul known as Hatred could take any form she wanted: a person, as weak as they were, a dog, a pig, a windmill, anything! As long as she could still tell others her thoughts and opinions, or rather ways of life, through action or words, then she could do and be what she wanted.

Her personal favorite: a cat. The animal was both elegant and mysterious, but also vicious and destructive. Hatred liked to think of herself as those things. Besides, she loved the way it felt to slink down an ally, ears twitching and tail flicking as she listened to the hate filled gossip of the people. It warmed her heart to know that there was always someone somewhere thinking about her.

Which was partially why she was destroying Kindness and his allies. They took her spotlight away from her, selfishly hogging it for themselves. Well, she was done with them. This was just the easiest way to rid the universe of their souls.

Sadly, she did have to keep some of the other monsters alive. Hatred scowled as she thought of them. She hadn't let many of them live, mostly just Melancholy, Rage, and Fright. As similar as her siblings were to Hatred, they had their differences. It made her blood boil that without them, she would be nothing. After all, without the drive of the other three, Hatred would not exist. It was true the other way around. Without Fright, Melancholy, and Hatred, Rage would not know life, either. It was like this for them all. They were a four legged, wobbly table; if even one of the legs were to disappear, the whole structure would fall to the ground.

Hatred turned away from the chasm, hating to have to leave the horror filled and desperate screeches behind so soon. She sighed as she slunk away from rip in the ground, flicking her tail carelessly as she prowled further into the darkness. Black: that was her favorite colored pelt, though a tortoiseshell and dark grey was a close second. But she was still usually a black cat with wide, malice filled yellow eyes. It suited her.

She rubbed her paws together in excitement as she gazed down at the world, which was now devoid of all Kindness. She purred unpleasantly at what she saw: every man for himself, no one trusting each other, pain and misery wreaking havoc among the dirty streets below. Hatred watched through her narrowed cat eyes as a man pushed down an elderly lady, stealing her bread and groceries, only to be stopped by a woman who knocked him out with a metal stroller, taking her baby and the man's stolen possessions and making a break for it.

Hatred settled onto her belly, preparing herself for a long evening of cruel entertainment. This, she told herself, was the way life should be. It's better this way for everyone. Who would want to live in a world full of Happiness, anyways?

This was a world without Kindness.

This was a world run by Hate.

. . . ….. . . .

 **I know I know, not as good as "Five." I hope you still liked it, though! Tell me what you thought about it!**

 **Ok byeee! Will try to update soon!**


	24. Twice the Number Killed

**Here it is!**

 **And let me just say, I am aware that cats can't read and write. But I think the effect of that part in this chapter is good, so I don't really care, guys. Luv ya XD**

. . . ….. . . .

Smokeleg. Smokeleg is dead.

Screechpaw stood there, not one tail length away from the unmoving body. She stared, her eyes unfocused and unblinking. This was not happening. Her father, the deputy of ThunderClan, could not be dead. He was supposed to end up being the leader!

She took a single hesitant step forward, the whole of the clan watching her every move. How would the crazy apprentice handle this? No one spoke this question, but it was playing through each of their minds in unison. Even the cat's siblings, as ashamed of it as they were.

"Smokeleg?" Screechpaw whispered. She drew out one paw, prodding him gently on the shoulder. "Smokeleg, are you okay?"

The body stayed where it was, not moving or sending any signals to the desperate cat that it had heard her.

Screechpaw's ears flattened and her eyes grew wide with fear. "Smokeleg, wake up! Stop it, talk to me!"

Still no response. Screechpaw lifted her paw again, nudging him harder this time. At her shove, Smokeleg's body shifted, his head falling limply so that his face was shown.

Screechpaw immediately gasped in horror and sprang back. Her father's body had been ruined, ripped at beyond repair. His eye, the one that hadn't been clawed out, was wide with fear and pain. His muzzle had been torn at by claws, the white color replaced by red. His back, along his spine, had been skinned of all fur and was left scratched and bloodied, while his tail had literally been torn in two. All of his legs had been broken terribly, the bones each snapped in several places.

None of those was the worst part. Not even close. The worst was his throat and chest. His neck had been torn away, leaving a gushing mass of red, the blood mixing with the dirt below him. The bone showed, the white peeking out, just barely seen through the overwhelming amount of red. Right below, just underneath his neck and on his chest, four words were etched on his skin, claws having had torn deeply into the warrior's fur. His blood seeped out through the lacerations, giving sense to the random patterns of lines. Screechpaw recoiled in terror at what they read, wanting to look away but unable to.

The four words were: I told you so.

 _I_ did _tell you so._

The sudden shock and realization that this was real distracted Screechpaw too much, so that she didn't respond to Poolkit. Instead, she let out a wail and ran to her father's body, curling up next to it and sobbing. She didn't care whether or not he was scarred anymore; she just wanted to feel the warmth of his pelt before it diminished forever.

 _No!_ she thought, the hopeful side of her trying to convince the distraught side. _He's alive! I know he is! He can't be dead!_

Screechpaw buried her head in his neck fur, the side that was not ravaged. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. This was Smokeleg, one of the bravest cats in the forest! No one could kill him!

She looked up, seeing his eye stare down at her, cold and lifeless.

 _See?_ she reasoned. _He's looking at me!_

That thought alone was enough to make her press herself further into him, her heart pounding. _He's alive! He's alive, I know he is!_

Screechpaw flinched at a sudden tail on her shoulder. She looked up to see the heart broken Glacierfire, her eyes wide with disbelief and downright sadness.

"Screechpaw…." she mewed, but didn't end the sentence, not knowing what words she could say that would make her kit feel better.

"I-it's okay, Glacierfire!" Screechpaw meowed. "H-he's alive!"

Glacierfire's eyes widened even more, filled up completely with despair and mourning. "What?"

"He's alive! He was looking at me! I know he's okay, he really is!"

Glacierfire stood there, stiff and unmoving. "Screechpaw—"

"Just listen to me!" the apprentice yowled, her mother taking a step back in surprise at her daughter's sudden volume change. Screechpaw stood on shaky legs now, desperately trying to convince her mother. Why wasn't she listening?

"He's fine!" she shrieked, glaring around at the ThunderClan cats. "He's okay! He'll live!"

The cats stared at her, their mouths shut tightly as they watched the events around them.

"He's breathing! He talked to me!" Screechpaw shouted. Then her volume changed yet again, becoming quieter than a whisper. "He spoke to me."

The crowd of cats cautiously leaned in, all trying to catch the apprentice's words.

"What?" Glacierfire meowed.

"H-he spoke to me!" Screechpaw said. She was glancing around the clearing, eyes darting around, looking at every cat in turn. Those two blue green eyes carried a look that told the other cats to not mess with her.

Glacierfire took another step forward, facing her daughter in the center of the clearing. "W-what did he say?"

Screechpaw's eyes suddenly blazed up in fury, her pelt standing on end. Her tail whipped through the air, cutting through anything in its path. Just as quickly, though, the apprentice shrunk to the size of a mouse, huddling on the ground fearfully. But when any cat tried to reach her, help her, she hissed and swiped at them.

She sat there, insanely staring around the clearing. No one moved, the moments running on and on, time racing on as normal. But still, as the seconds in the clearing turned into moons, not a cat twitched a whisker.

Everyone thought that the show was over until Screechpaw let out a small whimper, screwing her eyes shut. "H-he talked."

Glacierfire frowned slightly, bravely taking a step forward again. "But what did he say?"

Screechpaw's head snapped up, and Glacierfire gasped as she made eye contact with her kit. Her normal blue green eyes had been replaced with yellow ones. Screechpaw stared at her mother intently, her large yellow eyes remaining unblinking for longer than she had thought possible.

Screechpaw stood up, never losing eyes contact with Glacierfire, never blinking. Screechpaw watched her still as she padded towards her slowly, head slowly tilting, yellow eyes flashing unnaturally.

Glacierfire swallowed nervously and backed away from Screechpaw. But the apprentice just kept walking towards her, not stopping until she was muzzle to muzzle with her, Glacierfire having had backed up as far as she could.

The two stared at each other, Glacierfire's eyes full of paralyzed horror, while Screechpaw's were oddly blank. Staring and blank. They stayed that way, the clan watching on, holding their breaths out of terrified excitement and fear.

Screechpaw stared on, finally whispering her answer. "'You. You killed me. _You_ killed _me_. Now Poolkit's not the only one who is going to haunt your mind forever.'"

Glacierfire's jaw dropped, along with the rest of the clan's. What she had just said was absolutely, positively—

"I'm not insane," Screechpaw mewed quietly, yellow eyes staring ahead, her voice lacking all emotion. The she-cat slowly began to back up, shaking her head as she did so. But even as she walked away, her eyes stayed glued to Glacierfire's.

She curled up next to Smokeleg, eyes staying on her mother without straying even once. She shook her head one more time. "I'm not insane."

Then she blinked, and the yellow eyes were gone. She sighed slightly, then rested her head on her paws, closing her eyes, which were, once again, a blue green color. She snuggled closer to her father, her _alive_ father, and went to sleep.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw opened her eyes to find herself deep within a forest. She stood up and looked around, confusion wrapping itself tightly around her brain.

 _Funny…I don't think I've ever been to this part of the forest…._

"But I have."

Screechpaw jumped at Poolkit's voice. It had always been in her head, stuck there like a poison. Now, it was in the air, reverberating around the clearing of the woods. The apprentice stared around even more, trying to pinpoint the place of where it had come from.

A deep purr rang through the air. "You stupid little kit. You can't see me."

Screechpaw turned anyways, circling around the clearing, looking through the trees in an attempt to see the cat. "Why not?"

"Because this is my place. I choose whether or not you see me."

"So this is StarClan?" Screechpaw mewed shakily, turning as she stood even though Poolkit told her not to.

"Sure," she mewed. "Home sweet home. But now, another cat is here because of your stupidity."

Screechpaw bit her lip. She knew who.

 _No, you don't! He's still alive!_

The apprentice took a deep breath. "Who?"

"Why, it's your father, you doofus, who else would it be?"

Screechpaw slumped to the ground. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. Smokeleg was back in ThunderClan camp, safe and sound. He was probably having Wingfeather check out his wounds. No, this was fake.

"Oh, it's real, Screechstupid. It's all because of you."

"Me?" Screechpaw yelped. "No…I…How?"

The voice scoffed angrily. Why was she even taking time to explain things to this idiot? "You had the choice at some point in the battle to find Smokeleg, when you were watching the fight but couldn't see him. If you had found him, he'd have been saved. But you didn't. You helped someone who didn't truly need you. Because of that, he died. And all because of your selfishness."

"Tha-that's not true!" Screechpaw howled, her breathing starting to quicken. "I-i…no! Glacierfire needed me!"

"Did she? She was taking on one WindClan warrior. Your father was fighting four. Who seems like they could use the extra set of paws?"

"I-i-i…." Screechpaw lost reasons as to why she was innocent as Poolkit went on. Smokeleg _had_ needed more help. Glacierfire could've beaten Cutfeather without her.

The voice laughed cruelly. "Just face it. You've killed twice now. First me, your sweet friend, Poolkit, and Smokeleg. Your father." Screechpaw felt as if she was slipping, the forest around her melting into a blur of greens and browns. But the voice remained as clear as ever. "If you thought it was bad before, you just wait. Your life is going to be so miserable now, it won't even be worth living."

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw awoke with a gasp, thrusting upward as she became conscious again. She lay there, panting heavily, as the moon shone down on her from high above.

She looked around her to see Smokeleg lying next to her, and then Glacierfire on the other side of him. Oh yeah. It was his vigil.

 _No, it can't be! His death was just a nightmare!_

Screechpaw mewled quietly, pushing her nose into her father's fur. It was as cold as leafbare, as stiff as a stone.

Screechpaw cried out slightly, moving back. No. No, it couldn't be true. It just couldn't be. She felt his fur again, then again, and another time, all with the same outcome: frozen pelt, unmoving limbs.

Screechpaw stood, backing away from Smokeleg, shaking her head in disbelief and fear. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't.

It was too much for her. She whipped around, pelting towards the thorn tunnel that led out into the forest. On her way towards it, she tripped over something, but picked herself up again and ran on.

She raced through the tunnel and shot out into the forest, not caring whether she snagged her fur or paws on anything. She was too deep in thought to even pay attention to where she was going.

 _I killed him._

 _I killed him._

 _It was me._

 _It was all my fault._

 _Why did I not help him?_

 _How could I be so vile?_

 _Cruel?_

 _Menacing?_

 _Cold?_

 _Selfish?_

 _A murderer._

 _A murderer._

 _Murderer._

 _I'm useless._

 _A terrible cat._

 _A shame to these clans._

 _Undeserving._

 _Why?_

 _How?_

 _When did I become this horrible of a cat?_

 _I'm only seven moons old!_

 _I used to be innocent._

 _Kind._

 _Caring._

 _Loving._

 _Selfless._

 _Strong._

 _Brave._

 _Not anymore._

 _Now I'm greedy._

 _Selfish._

 _Wanting._

 _Cold blooded._

 _Evil._

 _Insane._

 _I only hurt others._

 _I only hurt them._

 _I only pain them._

 _Why exist anymore if I only bring suffering?_

While she had been running, cocooned in her thoughts, she had found direction and decided on where she was going.

Looking up, she took a deep breath. This was for the best.

Screechpaw jumped onto the trunk of the Great Oak, clawing her way up until she reached a branch. Balancing on it, she jumped upwards, stretching out her forelegs farther until the unsheathed claws hooked onto another outstretched tree limb. She repeated, again and again. A few times, she spotted a bird or two, curiously watching her ascend the mighty tree. She just ignored them, continuing her climb.

She could touch the moon and the stars. They were a foxlength away from her when she stopped, the apprentice staring up at the majestic rulers of the world.

 _Soon,_ she thought, _I will be up there, too._

Screechpaw looked down at the ground, far below her. If she walked for ten moons, the space she'd cover wouldn't be as far as the distance between her and the ground.

She breathed in, letting out a sigh. For the second time in her short life, she didn't know what emotion that it carried.

 _Should I?_ she asked herself. _I do only have a few moments left. Shouldn't I know what I feel?_

 _I don't care._ Poolkit was back. _Just jump or don't. Either way, I still have fun._

 _Poolkit, I—_

"Aspenpaw!" The shout came from below her, and the tabby looked down in shock. Why was anyone here? She growled when she realized what it had been that she had tripped on back at camp: a cat.

Squinting her eyes, she realized that the tiny blotch of ginger fur far below her was Ruffleslash. He kept calling her name, worry and overpowering fear clear in his voice.

"Aspenpaw! Aspenpaw, stop!"

She looked down at him, biting her lip. Why couldn't he just let her die?

"What?" she yowled down to him. "What, what do you want?"

"Aspenpaw, I know what you're thinking, but it's not worth killing yourself over!"

"You don't know!" she screamed, the quiet chattering of the night creatures being silenced at her shriek. "You don't know what it's been like, Ruffleslash!"

Screechpaw began to breath faster. "No one knows. No one knows what it's like to watch everyone else live normal lives, carry out their warrior or apprentice duties without being interrupted by crazy screams in their heads!"

The lack of reply from below told Screechpaw that her mentor was listening. "I'm the only one! I am the only cat in this entire clan, probably all of the clans, that has to go through this! And it's killing me to have to live with!

"I'm done with having to put up with it all!" A small sob escaped her. "I'm tired of all of the madness fits, and the hallucinations, and the sideways glances that I get from other cats!

"You don't know, Ruffleslash. If you were me, you would understand why I'm doing this!"

"Aspenpaw," the voice meowed from the ground. "Aspenpaw, you're right. I don't know what it's like to be you, but—"

"There is no 'but!'" Screechpaw yelled. "There is no silver lining to this, okay? There's no happy side, and if there was, there is no way in all of StarClan that you would be the one who could show it to me!"

A huge pause from Ruffleslash came. Her words had shocked him.

"Maybe I could, Aspenpaw," he mewed. "I could show you a lighter side. I know I can do it, just trust me, Aspen—"

"And stop calling me 'Aspenpaw!'" she screeched, her fur on end. "It's Screechpaw! It'll always be Screechpaw! That's how the clan sees me, and that's how the clan is going to remember me. I just have to jump, and it'll all be over."

"No, wait!" Ruffleslash shout made Screechpaw stop. "I know that you see yourself as 'Screechpaw,' but that's not you. I know it's not. You. Are. Aspenpaw. And if not to the other clans, then to me. Even if you don't see that, I do. And Aspenpaw suites you _so_ much better than Screechpaw does. You're not defined by your name, you know."

"Then what am I defined by?"

A pause. "You're defined by the way you act, how you treat others and live your life. And I swear, Aspenpaw, your life will get better."

"How do you know?" she hollered, voice cracking from despair. "How do you know that for sure? How do you know that living without Smokeleg will be better? I'll only go crazier than before!"

There was a short silence from below. Ruffleslash was choosing his words very carefully. "Aspenpaw, you're not crazy—"

"No one else thinks that!"

 _And they're all right. You are insane._

Ruffleslash shook his head. "Aspenpaw, they're all wrong. You're not crazy, I know you're not."

Screechpaw swayed slightly as a breeze picked up, catching the trees in its grip. "Then what am I? What am I, Ruffleslash? Even you have to admit that I'm not normal!"

Again, silence. Screechpaw waited for his reply, growing restless as the minutes built up.

"Aspenpaw," he mewed. "You're not normal. But neither am I! Same with Wonderstrength, Flamelick, Blazestar, anyone. Everyone's different. And I know that that sounds cheesy"—Screechpaw purred a little at that—"but it's true. You're special because of who you are. And you may not be able to change who you are, but you can always change what you do and how you live your life."

Screechpaw pondered this as she swung gently in the breeze, the words being called up to her. Her mentor had a point.

"And Aspenpaw?" he said. "If it helps, I think you are amazing the way you are. Anyone who doesn't see that is the insane one. You are the best, coolest, most incredible apprentice I could ever ask for! I don't care if you ever mess up, I'll still feel the same way!"

Screechpaw smiled as she listened. Boy, her mentor was good at convincing.

"So please come down, Aspenpaw," he called. "Things will get better."

Ruffleslash waited at the bottom of the tree tensely as he awaited her reply. He thought that his words hadn't helped when a small voice met his ears, saying one word.

"Promise?"

Ruffleslash smiled. "Promise."

He sighed in relief as Aspenpaw called down to him yet again. "O-okay, Ruffleslash. I'll come down."

Screechpaw sighed as Poolkit started talking in her head again as she made her way down the tree, carefully placing one paw in front of the other.

 _You should jump. It doesn't matter what that idiot says, your life is useless._

 _Poolkit, no. I'm not jumping._

 _Yes, you are._

 _You can't make me._

 _You want to bet?_

 _Yeah, I do! You can't force me to jump!_

As Screechpaw's mind got angrier at Poolkit, the voices in her head picked up again, their normal background chatter increasing volume.

 _Ugh, I do not need this right now!_

 _My thoughts exactly._

 _Oh no._

 _Oh yes._

Screechpaw tried to block out the noises as they grew louder, the shrieks and howls enlarging by the second. It wasn't long until the voices had become mind numbing, too loud to concentrate on anything else.

 _No, no, no, no, NO! Come one, Screechpaw, stay with me!_ she thought to herself desperately. _Just look at the tree. Don't look away! Pay attention to the tree!_

And she did. But not for long.

She could see the greens of Ruffleslash's eyes when the voices became too loud, too ear shattering for her too handle. She screwed her eyes shut and tried to block out the noises by flattening her ears. That didn't work.

That was when she made the fatal mistake that the voice in her head had wanted her to make. The apprentice removed her front paws from the tree, trying to cover her ears with them, realizing what she had done a moment too late.

Screechpaw fell away from the tree, plummeting towards the earth that was still far below her, but not letting out a sound as she did so.

Falling.

Still falling.

STILL falling.

The ground finally rose up to meet her, and she sighed before she could land. Her death was now. At least there would be no more waiting.

The last color she saw was a flash of dark ginger before her vision changed, filling her eyes with the foreboding black that seemed to seal her doom forever, locking her away in its cold embrace.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **3453 words! Yay!**

 **AND THE STORY IS NOT OVER, OK? THERE ARE MORE CHAPTERS, JUST SAYING! THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE BOOK!**

 **But no spoilers.**

 **Anywho, again, I'm REALLY sorry that I didn't do any RR's for this chapter! If I was going to post this today, then I couldn't've had the time to do all of them! I'm so sorry!**

 **Also, I'm sorry that I haven't been updating every few days. I have been SOOOOO overloaded in school with homework! All I ever do is wish that I could be on fanfic all day, take my word for it! XD so yeah, I am writing EVERY SPARE SECOND THAT I HAVE! And, good news, we have a two and a half week break from school in a few weeks! So I'll probably update every day, then!**

 **IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT! About the whole vacation thing, though: part of how long it takes me to update is how many reviews I get for each chapter. My goal is to get to 15 reviews for every chapter (for now, at least, the number will probably go up eventually) before I post the next one. So I'll probably be doing that for when we get winter vacation. So if u want the next chapter sooner, then just review! It doesn't even have to be a long review! It can be any length, I love them all!**

 **Ok, so I did this thing (inspired by BOTT) where I changed my name from 'Whisperblaze' to 'Whisperblaze Prays for Paris.' It's not permanent, it's just for a little bit, but I encourage u guys to change your names, too, just for a while! If not, it's TOTALLY ok! I just think that it's a cool thing to do here on FanFic ;)**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL! IT'S ABOUT THE APPRENTICES' WARRIOR NAMES! IT'S ON MY PROFILE!**

 **QOTDT 1): Does Screechpaw/Aspenpaw survive the tree fall? If not, who is then the main character of the story? (XD I know, I know, I couldn't think of a good qotdt :I )**

 **QOTDT 2): who is your favorite out of the three: Spikepaw, Wolfpaw, or Ruffleslash?**

 **K bye! Will try to update as soon as possible! Thnx for reading!**


	25. Somehow Alive

**OK OK OK OK OK READ THIS! K, so I want to tell u guys about Broken Tears Fall Alone's new story! Its called "whispers and echoes," and I think u guys should go check it out! It's really good! And don't forget to leave an awesome review about it at the story! Thnx!**

 **Here's the new chapter! But first, an AWESOME roleplay from Wondershade!**

 **Thornstar: time to go and hurt poor wittle screechpaw**

 **Wondershade: U DIE NOW!**

 **Thornstar: who the hey are u?**

 **Wondershade: ur worst nightmare!**

 **Thornstar (scoffing): don't b stupid, I'm the scariest thing that the clans have ever seen**

 **Wondershade: oh yeah? What about Terror?**

 **Thornstar: NO PLS KEEP THAT INSANE CAT AWAY FROM ME SHE'LL KILL ME!**

 **Screechpaw: hey, I thought I was the insane one!**

 **Terror: not anymore, kitty!**

 **Screechpaw: NOOOOOOO!**

 **Thornstar: wait, u want to b insane?**

 **Screechpaw: (shrugs) it gets me attention and puts food on the table. What can I say?**

 **Ruffleslash: what's a table...**

 **Thornstar: dang it! If I knew u had liked being crazy, I wouldn't have kept hurting u!**

 **Wondershade: U HURT MY POOR LITTLE SCREECHPAW ON PURPOSE?!**

 **Thornstar: idrk...it was an accident...**

 **Wondershade: UR THE ACCIDENT! *jumps on thornstar and kicks him senseless***

 **Thornstar: no pls help! And I thought Terror was bad!**

 **Terror: HOW IS SHE WORSE THAN ME?!**

 **Wondershade: I'm a boss. Deal with it.**

 **Terror *grumbling* : u deal with it...**

 **Wondershade, giving thornstar one last kick: there now my job is done! *runs to screechpaw and starts petting her* ur safe now!**

 **Screechpaw (awkwardly moving away): but I liked the attention!**

 **Wondershade: TOO BAD!**

 **Ruffleslash: ok then...**

 **Wondershade: OMG RUFFLESLASH I LUV U! LET ME TAKE A SELFIE! *whips out phone and takes a pic* I'LL SO SEND THIS TO U RUFFLESLASH WHAT'S UR NUMBER?!;?;**

 **Ruffleslash: what's a num-**

 **Wondershade: MARRY ME! IM ALREADY NAMING THE KITS! Let's c, how about cuddleskit, wonderxrufflekit, and ruffleslashisahunkkit? THEY'LL BE SOOOOO CUTE!**

 **Ruffleslash: I already-**

 **Wondershade (shoving her paw over ruffleslash' mouth): don't speak. U dont have to tell me how much u luv me. I already know!**

 **Ruffleslash: i-**

 **Wondershade, turning to screechpaw: my little apprentice, I must leave now with my hubby.**

 **Ruffleslash: wha-**

 **Wondershade: take care, screechpaw. LETS GO RUFFLESLASH! *procedes in dragging the screaming tom out of camp***

 **Ruffleslash: help me!**

 **Screechpaw: hey! That's my mentor!**

 **Wondershade: not anymore! MWAHAHAHAHA!**

 **Ruffleslash: NOOOOOOOOO!...**

 ***silence***

 **Flamelick: well that happened.**

 **Lol hilarious! Great job, wondershade!**

 **Ok here it is! Kind of a filler, but I hope u enjoy!**

. . . ….. . . .

 _I'm not dead._

That was the only thought that greeted Screechpaw's mind as it regained consciousness. And the three words puzzled her greatly. Remembering her fall, she thought the words a lie.

 _How am I still alive? I fell out of the Great Oak! I should be dead._

Her own thoughts responded. Not Poolkit's words, but her own inner ones. _But you're not._

 _Why?_

 _How would I know? I'm you._

Screechpaw told herself to open her eyes, but she couldn't. What would she see if she opened them? Her broken limbs? Or maybe she would be looking down at her own body, broken and still.

 _Yeah, that makes sense,_ she reasoned. _I am dead and I'm hovering above my body. If I open my eyes, I'll see myself._

This, somehow, was what convinced her to look up. The scene that she saw was the last she expected.

Screechpaw was alive. From what she could see, she was lying in a nest in the medicine cat's den. The sun was high in the sky, the newleaf rays filtering in through the den entrance and falling on her pelt.

Screechpaw relaxed. She was alive. That was good. The silver and tabby apprentice moved to stand up, but let out a yowl of pain as agony shot up her left hind leg. She slumped down onto the nest again, turning around to lick her leg.

A moan from the other side of the den made her ears prick up. She turned to see her mentor, his chest heaving as he breathed deeply.

"Ruffleslash?" she mewed quietly. What was he doing here?

He turned towards her slowly, every movement seeming to take all of his energy. But when he faced her, his pain contorted face softened, turning into a small smile. "Hey," he managed, not doing very well at hiding his hurt.

"Ruffleslash?" she repeated, dumbfounded, her mind too groggy to comprehend things correctly. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

Her mentor's ears twitched slightly. "When you fell, I kind of took the impact for you."

Screechpaw's mouth fell open in surprise. He did that for her? But why? He had gotten hurt! Probably more so than her.

"What happened?" she asked broadly.

"When you fell out of the tree, I got underneath you before you hit the ground." He shrugged, the action making him flinch. "It was the only thing I could think to do. I didn't want you to die."

Screechpaw smiled; her mentor really did care about her. Somewhere in her heart, deep within her, something changed, just slightly, barely noticeable. It was tiny, the smallest of differences. But she knew it had happened, that the thing had . . . she didn't know how to explain it, what it even was. But it was there. She knew that for sure.

Ruffleslash adjusted himself in his nest. "The impact from your fall slammed me into the ground"—he moved so that Screechpaw could see his side—"and my pelt got ripped up by some of the rocks."

Screechpaw gasped as she looked at him. "Ripped up by the rocks" was a complete and utter understatement. There were long gashes in his skin, blood pooling around them. There were still some traces of pebbles stuck in them. They completely covered one side of the tom, his ginger and black fur missing in some places on his pelt.

"Ruffleslash…." She whispered quietly. He kept talking.

"When I got up, you were unconscious," he kept on. "And there was no one around. S-so I had to carry you back." He sniffed a bit at this. Screechpaw wasn't sure why exactly. "It was a long way, and I fell over a few times…" He laughed slightly. "But I knew I had to keep going. Even if it hurt more than anything. I couldn't leave you there."

He finished his speech and they sat there in silence, each processing his words.

 _Did I just say that?_ Ruffleslash thought to himself. _Should I have?_

 _Did he just say that?_ Screechpaw thought, bewildered. _What should I think of it?_

 _Nothing. He probably hates you, just like everyone else._

 _Shut up, Poolkit. You're wrong._

For once, she was determined that what the dead she-cat said was false. If Ruffleslash had really done all of that for her, then he must care. At least a little, right?

Wingfeather pushed her way into the den, making the two injured cats look up at her. She checked Ruffleslash first, silently wrapping his side in cobwebs after plastering marigold onto it. The cream and white cat then turned to Screechpaw, sniffing her over, then pawing her side.

"Does it hurt here?" she asked, pushing on the apprentice's spine.

"No."

"Here?" The shoulder.

"No."

"How about here?" A shot of pain flashed through Screechpaw's left hind leg, and she yelped in shock.

Wingfeather nodded, sitting back as she let the tabby rub her aching leg in an attempt to make it feel better. "Well, you're remarkably unscathed, as far as falling out of the Great Oak goes. But you should stay off of your paws for a while. I'd say at least a quarter moon." She continued on before Screechpaw could object. "That doesn't mean you can't leave the medicine den, but you shouldn't leave camp. If you do at all, just for a short walk. But no training whatsoever."

Ruffleslash and Screechpaw nodded, the medicine cat's words making sense to them, even though they still weren't happy about basically being confined to camp.

 _It's not the first time I've had to stay in a camp._

Screechpaw sighed as she remembered the WindClan camp. At least she'd be at home this time.

Wingfeather glanced at the two suspiciously from the corners of her eyes. "What were you two doing by the Great Oak in the middle of the night, anyways?"

Screechpaw's ears flattened. She didn't want to have to tell the medicine cat that she had been trying to kill herself.

"It was my fault," Ruffleslash meowed, surprising Screechpaw yet again. "I took her out to do tree climbing, and I thought she was ready for the Great Oak." He dipped his head respectfully to the cream and white she-cat. "I accept full responsibility. Please don't punish Screechpaw."

Wingfeather nodded. "Okay. I was just wondering." She jerked her head towards the entrance of the den. "You two can go out if you want. Just don't be reckless."

Her eyes followed Screechpaw as she followed her mentor out of the den. The apprentice was relieved to finally escape her gaze, but was only met with more eyes.

She was beginning to become all too familiar with the feeling of every cat in the clan looking at her. It was awkward, irritating, and hot. An annoyingly warm sensation. She didn't like it.

She followed Ruffleslash as he limped slowly over to the fresh kill pile and took a thrush for himself and a squirrel for her. They settled down next to the pile of rocks leading up to the Highledge. The other cats' comments gathered in Screechpaw's ears the whole time.

"Did you hear…."

"Great Oak…."

"Fell out…."

"Why?"

"Why was she there?"

"Poor Screechpaw."

"She'll get better."

"It'll only take a few days."

"Insane kit."

Screechpaw lashed her tail as she sat down next to her mentor, biting into her squirrel ravenously. They had only been there for a moment when a new cat lay down next to them.

"Hi, Ruffleslash!" It was Skyheart. Screechpaw had never really talked to the brown and grey tabby, but she hadn't ever had reason to. Based on what she had heard, though, that was almost a good thing.

"So," the she-cat meowed, pressing herself up against the ginger and black tom. "I heard about the Great Oak thing. I think you were so brave to take the fall for her!"

Screechpaw flicked her tail. Skyheart had said "her" instead of saying "Screechpaw." She was sitting right there, after all.

"Thanks, Skyheart," Ruffleslash said politely. "But it wasn't a big deal."

Skyheart laughed. It sounded forced. "Not a big deal? You saved her life! That takes guts! And strength! And bravery! You deserve to be made deputy, Ruffleslash."

Screechpaw stiffened. The new deputy _would_ be announced today. In place of her father. He was dead.

Ruffleslash shrugged awkwardly, glancing over at his apprentice quickly to make sure that she was okay. "Still…."

Skyheart saw him look at Screechpaw. Her cheerful gaze turned to Screechpaw, and, unbeknownst to Ruffleslash, who couldn't see her expression, immediately turned cold and hate filled. She looked over her, eyes narrowing. Skyheart snarled slightly, not making a sound, so that the apprentice could only _see_ her contempt for her.

"So," she mewed smoothly. "You fell out of the tree?" Again, she was clearly forcing the sentence, as if she thought of herself as higher than the cat.

Screechpaw nodded once. "Yeah."

The grey and brown tabby smirked. "Smooth."

Ruffleslash opened his mouth to interject, but was cut off by a yowl sounding from the above his head. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!"

The cats turned to see Blazestar perched on the ledge, looking down at his clan as they gathered. His eyes were blank, watching but not seeing.

He stood when everyone was gathered. "I have two announcements to make. To start, I must name my new deputy."

The clan shuffled in excitement at this. Yes, everyone was still mourning Smokeleg; he had been one of the best warriors the clan had ever seen. But no one could deny the excitement of having a new deputy announced.

Blazestar looked up at the bright sky. "I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirit of Smokeleg may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of ThunderClan is Tailstripe."

There was a moment of silence as the cats processed this, then the clan erupted in cheers, calling the senior warrior's name. It was an obvious choice: the brown tom with the white striped tail had had several apprentices and was one of the oldest warriors, though he still young enough to be deputy. The clan clearly approved.

"Secondly," Blazestar continued. "It is time to make a certain young cat a warrior."

Everyone sighed in relief. They knew who he was talking about.

"Terror, will you please step forward."

The black and grey she-cat padded forward, sitting beneath the Highledge, staring up at Blazestar as he spoke. "This she-cat has proved time and time again that she deserves her warrior name. Without her, the chances are that we would not have Screechpaw with us today and Thornstar would have kept one of his lives, along with his former deputy, Willowbreath. She has earned her place in our clan, and it is time that we make it official."

Blazestar looked down at Terror. "I, Blazestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this cat. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn.

"Terror, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Terror answered confidently, eyes shining. "I do."

Blazestar dipped his head, showing respect to the she-cat. He never did that during a warrior ceremony. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Terror, from this moment you will be known as Terrorfall. StarClan honors your bravery and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

The clan erupted in cheers as Blazestar set his head on top of Terrorfall's and the new warrior licked his shoulder. Everyone was satisfied with her name and happy that she was finally part of the clan.

Screechpaw would normally be happy, too, but her father's death hung too heavily over her head. She just couldn't find it in her to be excited about the latest ceremonies.

"Tailstripe is great, and all…" Screechpaw heard Skyheart flirting with Ruffleslash, and annoyance crept into her mind. "But I still think you should have been deputy. You're much better than him."

"Thanks, Skyheart. I'll see you later, I guess." Skyheart shot Screechpaw one last dirty look as she padded away, off to join her brother, Fangshadow.

Ruffleslash looked back at his apprentice, seeing irritation clear in her eyes. "You okay?"

"Fine."

"Good." Ruffleslash nodded, then stood up. "I'm going back to the medicine cat's den, and I think you should, too. You need to heal."

Screechpaw sighed as her mentor padded away awkwardly. He was right, of course, but she didn't want to go back to sleep. If she did, she knew her dreams would be filled with nothing but her dead father and the tormenting cat whom she used to call her friend. And there would be nothing she could do to stop them.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2169 words. Meh. Somewhat short.**

 **Ok, sorry, this chapter was kind of short. It was mostly a filler so yeah. Yeah….**

 **I am so sorry to say that over the next two and a half weeks, I may not be able to update any more frequently than I have been. Which isn't frequent at all, but I'd say that I could maybe possibly be able to get in one chapter a week, maximum, for the next two weeks. I am really sorry, trust me, I wouldn't be slowing the progression of this story if I didn't have to! I promise, as soon as we get winter break, ill start updating more!**

 **Also, I am going to start doing a thing where I don't update the story until I have at least 15 reviews for the previous chapter. Not always, but usually. So if u want a chapter quicker, then review! It really doesn't take long, I swear XD so yeah, thnx!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT HAS TO DO WITH THE WARRIOR NAMES OF THE APPRENTICES! GO VOTE NOW!**

 **QOTDT1) (srry, I was going to do this one last chapter but I forgot :D) Why were Screechpaw's eyes yellow instead of the normal blue green color in chapter 24?**

 **QOTDT2) What do u think about Skyheart? What should happen to her throughout the story? (aka, should she die, lose interest in Ruffleslash, become leader, grow wings, etc etc etc….. I already know what happens, but I want to know what u think!)**

 **Ok thank u! As usual, I will try to update as soon as I possibly can! Thnx! U guys r the best!**


	26. A Grave's Effect

**Hey guys! I'm sorry that it took so long for me to post, I've had finals and LOTS of reading that I HAD to do! trust me, I hated it. But im back now!**

 **But I kind of have bad news. I noticed just how much of each chapter is taken up by my ramblings (aka author note things) and RR's so I decided that I want to cut back on how much I say in each of them. I'm sorry, I really wish I could ramble forever, but it's better this way. I promise, I'll still reply to reviews! Just not in such long replies, u know? Sorry again, I still luv u all!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

Screechpaw lay outside of the medicine cat den, watching the sun as it appeared above the horizon of the forest. The rays shone high in the sky, creating a masterpiece of colors ranging from the deepest blues to the brightest of oranges. The silhouette of a flock of birds dotted the world as they slowly crept across the vision of the apprentice.

Screechpaw sniffed as she adjusted her leg beneath her. It had been two days since she had hurt it, but it hadn't made much progress in its healing. Not like she thought that she deserved it to heal. Not after everything that she had done, after all of the lives that she had ruined.

She stiffly stood up, glancing around her to make sure that no one else was awake. She perked her ears, hearing the deep breathing of Ruffleslash behind, in the herb filled den. He was asleep. Good.

She padded through the thorn tunnel as quickly as she could with her awkward leg, coming out into the greens and browns of the forest. She let her legs take her from there, walking through the underbrush in a sort of haze, not really paying attention to anything that was happening around her. She just walked, her mind filled with absolutely nothing, no thoughts or feelings. Just a foggy existence.

Screechpaw finally stopped where her legs had known to take her: a mound of dirt underneath an oak tree. The tiniest of blooms sprung up among the freshly placed soil, the petals of the flowers swaying slightly in the gentle breeze.

Screechpaw sighed as she sat next to her father's grave, staring longingly at the dirt. She still couldn't believe that he was gone. He couldn't be.

Smokeleg was strong. He was brave and courageous and the best father any cat could want. He had been an amazing deputy, and yet he had still found the time every day to spend with his family. He was both responsible and loving.

Which was why Screechpaw found it so hard to say good bye to him. She had never liked leaving others, having to part with them. It didn't happen often in ThunderClan, but when it did, Screechpaw would try to make the farewells as quick as possible.

That was impossible with this situation. It wasn't like she could just stop by his grave, say her goodbyes, and move on with her life. He was her father and would always continue to be, alive or not. But he was alive. Screechpaw was certain of it.

Because if he was dead, then she would have failed. After all, it had been her fault. If she had sought him out in the battle, helped him even a little bit, he would be alive. He would still be here with her and everyone else, probably sorting out the patrols at that exact moment.

But he wasn't here. He was dead, buried beneath the ground, trapped by the dirt and dust. Smokeleg was gone, and Screechpaw would never see him again. At least when she was alive.

He was up in Silverpelt, with StarClan. Probably looking down at her right now. Shaking his head in disappointment. Turning his head so that he wouldn't have to look at his pathetic daughter, who had failed him so miserably. She might as well have killed him herself, stuck her claws down his claws and ripped in the way WindClan had.

The thought made her shiver. Her father had not deserved to die in that way, if he had to die at all. No one deserved that harsh of a death.

It made her sob, that her father had died in such a terrible way. She hadn't thought that any cat could be so evil, so malice filled, that they would kill another in such a horrible way. Why had they done it? Why had they taken him from her?

She had never done anything to WindClan. Even when she was in their territory as a kit, she had never harmed them. So why were they hurting her and her family?

 _They didn't hurt Smokeleg. You did._

Screechpaw slumped at the thought. Poolkit was right. She was always right. Yet again, the apprentice found that she was blaming herself for the death of her father. And she couldn't change the thoughts.

 _He didn't deserve to die._

 _How could I?_

 _He was the greatest deputy ever._

 _It was my fault._

 _Why do I hurt everyone?_

 _Smokeleg should have lived longer._

 _I don't deserve to be called his daughter._

Screechpaw lay next to the grave, bawling. Her blue green eyes grew with the tears, becoming brighter from the mournful act.

"I'm sorry, Smokeleg," she managed. She rested her head on her paws, sniffing, but froze when she heard a voice behind her.

"Don't be."

Screechpaw snapped around, staring into the deep, red eyes of Terrorfall. Wait, Terrorfall? What was she doing here?

The new warrior saw the questions in her eyes. "I know, right? How would I know? How could I understand what you're feeling?"

The black she-cat flicked her grey ears, signaling to Screechpaw that she should follow her. The silver and black tabby looked longingly at her father's grave before she stood up and went after Terrorfall as she padded through the trees.

They walked through the woods silently. The warrior inwardly ruminated on how to start talking to Screechpaw. She sighed; this was going to be harder than she thought.

"Screechpaw," Terrorfall meowed as they settled down on the grass. They sat on a small hill overlooking the lake, the sun creating a pattern on the lake's surface. "Have I ever talked to you about where I used to live?"

Screechpaw blinked in surprise at the question, shaking her head. The mysterious she-cat hadn't told anyone about her life before she had joined ThunderClan.

Terrorfall nodded. "I didn't think so." She stared out over the water before she took a deep breath. "I can say that it is like your life right now, in many ways. Well, it _was_ , at least."

The black warrior sighed as she arranged herself on the grass, getting comfortable. "I came from a small family. It was just me, my mother, and my sister. We didn't have much, might I add, but we had each other."

Screechpaw swallowed in nervousness and excitement; Terrorfall was going to tell her about her life before ThunderClan!

"But," the dark warrior went on. "Let's just say that that wasn't enough for me. I, uh, fell in amongst the wrong crowd, I suppose you could say. Things got bad. Like really bad. Have you ever wondered how, or rather why, I can fight the way I can?" Screechpaw nodded. "Well, that was why. It was because of the… _group_ of cats."

Terrorfall hesitated on the word "group," as if unsure about whether that was the correct term. Screechpaw flicked her ears in curiosity.

"Things got bad. Cats got hurt and I started blaming myself for a lot of things that happened. With all of those thoughts cooped up in my head, day in and day out, I got angry and depressed. So to work them out, to keep them out of my mind, I practiced battle moves."

Again, it seemed as if the warrior was leaving something out of the story. Something that made the picture whole. Without it, it seemed as if a large chunk was missing from the puzzle. But Screechpaw never interjected.

"Which is why I know so many moves. And let's just say that I used them for the wrong reasons." Terrorfall sniffed awkwardly. "I wanted to tell you that you shouldn't blame yourself for Smokeleg's death."

Screechpaw inwardly slumped, for two reasons: the topic of her father was being brought up again, and that that was all the black warrior was going to tell her about her past.

"I know that you may think that it was your fault, but it wasn't. Trust me."

Screechpaw sighed. "But it _was_ my. I should've found him. I knew that something was wrong but I never did anything about it. I just ignored the feeling in my gut. And now he's gone."

Terrorfall shook her head. "It _wasn't_ your fault. Anyone could've found him, but no one did. It's more of the clan's fault than it is yours."

"Still," Screechpaw meowed. "I could've done something."

"Well, the same goes for everyone." The black warrior looked up at the sky, her red eyes glinting in the pale dawn light. Her grey ears twitched slightly. "Anyone could have noticed. But just because no one did, that doesn't mean that it's their fault. You could blame Shinepaw or even Robinkit for what happened, but they still didn't do it." She looked at the apprentice. "Am I making any sense?"

Screechpaw nodded stiffly. The warrior did have a point. But the tabby wasn't convinced.

Terrorfall was unaware of the little cat's inner thoughts. "Good. So don't take it out on yourself, okay?"

The black and grey cat got to her paws, stretching and kinking her tail over her back. "But if it helps," she mewed before she slunk into the forest, leaving the apprentice to sit alone. "If you have a gut feeling, go with it. Your first instinct is usually right." She smiled warmly and disappeared.

Screechpaw looked out over the lake again, sighing. She knew that she should believe the warrior, but something was keeping her from listening. Her father's death was still her fault. She knew it.

Or at least Poolkit knew it. She wouldn't let Screechpaw believe otherwise. And the apprentice knew it, but she somehow still agreed with the little voice in her head.

 _You should agree with me. I'm always right._

Screechpaw sniffed in submission as she rested her head on her paws yet again; she believed Poolkit no matter how rude the kit was. It was like she wasn't in control of her own head. Somewhere, deep within her, she knew that she was being tricked, deceived, but that part of her was not within her reach. So she had to, was forced to, in a way, ignore that voice of logic.

A voice, Ruffleslash's probably, called to her from the trees of the forest. Screechpaw shot one last, longing look at the lake, then turned to head through the woods. At least she was still in control of her movements.

. . . ….. . . .

A purr erupted from Screechpaw's throat, filling the little area by the river with sound. She circled her friend as he joined her by the trees; she was just glad he was here.

"Wolfpaw!" she mewed, sitting down with a smile on her face. "You remembered!"

The brown and silver tom flicked his tail as he sat next to Screechpaw. "Of course I remembered! I always look forward to seeing you. How could I forget?"

Screechpaw grinned, then frowned. "I guess Spikepaw forgot."

Wolfpaw narrowed his eyes slightly. "No he didn't."

"What?"

"He didn't forget."

"Then why…."

Wolfpaw purred at the ThunderClan cat's confusion. "He's not here because I never told him that I was meeting you."

Screechpaw's eyes widened. "Why?"

Wolfpaw shrugged. "I never get to just hang out with you. Not that there's anything wrong with my brother, but I want to spend time with you." He shifted awkwardly. "Please don't tell him that I saw you. He'll kill me."

Screechpaw smiled. "Okay, I won't." She didn't ask why it mattered, why Spikepaw would care, just bit her tongue and changed the subject. "So how has WindClan been?"

Wolfpaw sighed. "Not good. We seem to be having a battle every time we blink. Branchtail can barely keep up."

Screechpaw remembered the WindClan medicine cat. He had never exactly been nice to her, but she didn't have a grudge against him.

"But things in ThunderClan have been worse, haven't they?"

Screechpaw sighed for the umpteenth time that day, nodding quietly. The two sat in silence for a moment until Wolfpaw worked up enough courage to talk.

"Screechpaw, huh?"

She nodded.

Wolfpaw looked down. He didn't know what to say to his friend that would make her feel better about her name. So he decided to say nothing about the title.

"Hey, why don't we watch the stars, like we did when we escaped camp as kits?"

Screechpaw nodded sadly, lying on her back next to Wolfpaw. She didn't move away when she felt his fur brush up against her, just let the warmth comfort her.

The stars were magnificent that night. They shone down on the two cats as they stared back. Silverpelt, spread out across the giant sky, glittered and twinkled from its perch far above the cats.

They sat that way, staring up, for quite some time. One cat sat watching, mind completely blank of all thoughts. The mind of the cat was just there, gazing at the night, doing nothing at all. Just existing.

The other cat's head was racing. Wild thoughts were flung about, running off in all directions. This cat wasn't paying attention to the night sky, just the tabby that lay not a tail length away, eyes staring unseeingly at the world. Oh how perplexed the cat was in this situation.

 _What do I say?_

 _I know I should tell her…._

 _But I can't!_

 _What if she laughs?_

 _Refuses to meet again?_

 _Hates me?_

 _I can't risk it._

 _Not now._

 _But maybe someday._

 _Someday._

 _Someday._

 _SOMEDAY._

The word replayed itself over and over in the apprentice's head. Yes, someday. Someday, things around him would be different. He just knew it.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2272 words! Yeeeaaaaahh!**

 **Sorry if it was a bit rushed, I really wanted to post today after I've kept u guys waiting for so long. I hope it was still good, at least!**

 **Again, im trying to keep my Author's note things short from now on, so I'll only say the most important stuff.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT'S ABOUT THE APPRENTICES' WARRIOR NAMES!**

 **QOTDT1) what happened to Terrorfall before she came to ThunderClan? Like specifically what happened?**

 **QOTDT2) what did Wolfpaw want to say to Screechpaw at the end of the chapter?**

 **QOTDT3) who is your favorite tom in the story? She-cat? (2 different questions!)**

 **I will try to post again when I hit 15 reviews for this chapter! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Thnx, u guys are the best! XD**


	27. The Game

**I AM SO SORRY THAT I HAVENT UPDATED IN SO LONG! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME I LUV U ALL TOO MUCH TO PURPOSELY NEGLECT THIS STORY!**

 **In my defense, I did a complete write up of all chapters from now to chapter 67!...yeah, this is going to be a long story. I would expect it to end around chapter 90-100…and then there will be a sequel! Heheh..*nervous laughter* what have I done?! I have created a monster of this fanfiction!**

 **Lol jk I will always luv this story, even if it is WAY too long! I hope u all will too! ;)**

 **But I do want to say something else, which is pretty important. I have decided to go back and delete the RR's so that the word count of the story is more accurate. It doesn't cut off a lot of the story, but it does take away a chunk of it. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I AM STOPPING REVIEW REPLIES! I WONT UNLESS U ALL WANT ME TO! I am just going to go back every time that I update the story and delete any old RR's. that way, I still am replying to you all, but I am still getting a more accurate word count, you know? I'm sorry if this makes you sad or mad or glad (tell me if you get that reference XD). I still luv u, I promise!**

 **AND OMG WE GOT TO 304 REVIEWS! I LOVE U GUYS U R THE BEST EVER! DO U THINK WE CAN MAKE IT TO 1,000?!**

 **Here it is!**

. . . ….. . . .

Ruffleslash yawned loudly as he pushed his way out of the warriors den. He blinked rapidly, the blinding newleaf sunshine shocking his still asleep body.

It was a quarter moon after the battle with WindClan where Smokeleg had died. Many were still recovering from their injuries and all were mourning. Yet Ruffleslash knew that no one was suffering as much as his apprentice.

The warriors of ThunderClan were just beginning to wake up, most yawning and scratching their pelts as they joined the others around them. The only cats who were completely awake were Blazestar and Tailstripe, the deputy.

Ruffleslash sat next to the entrance to the warriors den as he listened to Tailstripe assign different cats to different jobs: a hunting patrol here, a border patrol there. To Ruffleslash, they were all the same jobs in the long run.

He blinked in surprise at the sight of his brother as he slunk out of his nest and into the conscious world. His eyelids drooped over his usually alive amber eyes and his bright ginger fur was shaggy and bedraggled.

Ruffleslash eyed his brother as he sat next to him, an enormous yawn escaping from his sibling's jaws. "Hi, Flamelick," he meowed, green eyes scanning his flank. "Get much sleep last night?"

The tom shook his head as if in a haze.

"Why?"

"Oh, you know…" Flamelick let out another earth shaking yawn. "Uncomfortable nest. You know the likes."

"Oh…" Ruffleslash's eyes narrowed in humored suspicion. "Well, I didn't know you kept tree branches in your nest, Flamelick." The dark ginger and black tom whipped his tail at a sharp stick protruding from his brother's messy fur. "Care to explain?"

Flamelick had frozen when he heard Ruffleslash's words, like a kit being caught trying to escape the camp. He slowly opened his mouth to respond, as if begging for someone to talk so he wouldn't have to. No one did.

"Um…" he started. "N-no. I'm good."

Ruffleslash snorted, purring slightly under his breath. At least his brother had started to act a little bit better after Poolkit's death. Everyone had known about how much he had liked her, even from the start. It was good that he was moving on.

His purr was soon choked, though, by a noise similar to it. Ruffleslash tried to put on his best smile as he turned to see Skyheart rubbing up next to him, purring loudly and excessively.

"Hey, Ruffleslash!" she mewed, eyes purposely going wide, trying to suck the tom into their yellow depths. "It's nice to see you!"

 _I wish I could say the same back. Actually, I don't._ "Thanks, Skyheart."

The she-cat leaned forward slightly, as if expecting him to say it was nice to see her, too. She frowned when he didn't.

"Do you ever miss being an apprentice, Ruffleslash?" she sighed over dramatically, pressing herself against him. "I do. I never get to see you anymore."

"Well, Uh…" Flamelick smirked playfully at his brother before he walked away. It was his turn to be at a loss for words.

"Not really, Skyheart. I like being a warrior."

"Oh, me too." She pathetically attempted to change her previous opinion. "I would much rather be a warrior."

Ruffleslash saw Skyheart's eyes flash from him to just past his shoulder. In a second, he saw their murky chasms darken into two identical, hate-filled holes. He didn't need to look to see who she was staring at.

"And they're so dumb, don't you think, Ruffleslash?" she complained, obviously louder than before. "They can't do anything right. They aren't good for anything other than cleaning out the elders' nests and searching cats for ticks. Aren't I right, Ruffleslash?"

The dark ginger and black tom sighed quietly before pushing himself awkwardly away from the clingy she-cat. "No, not really, Skyheart. I, uh, I have to go."

He turned his back on the furious she-cat and padded over to Screechpaw, whom Skyheart had been watching the whole time. She nodded awkwardly at her mentor, then followed him over to the mass of cats waiting to be told where to go. They stood silently as they were assigned the ShadowClan border with Batpaw and his new mentor, Heatcloud, and Rockpelt.

They finally spoke when they were out in the forest, walking towards their neighbor's shared border.

"So, uh, Skyheart, huh?" Screechpaw said, kicking at the ground to try to hide her inner thoughts of anger.

Ruffleslash bit his lip. "Well…not really."

"What do you mean by that?" Screechpaw looked over at her mentor through the corners of her blue green eyes, smiling slightly.

"I mean that _she_ follows _me_ around, not I her." He sniffed as he thought about the grey and brown cat. "It gets pretty annoying, actually.

A thought occurred to him as he looked at Aspenpaw. "Why do you care?"

He purred quietly as he saw her freeze slightly, then shrug it off nonchalantly. "I don't know. She just doesn't like me, I guess. But it's not like her liking you and not me affects me in the long run, right?"

Something inside of Ruffleslash fell at her words. But why? What? He wasn't quite sure….

They reached the ShadowClan border and Ruffleslash sighed as he watched Aspenpaw continue to plod along in melancholy. He looked at her powerlessly, not knowing anything that he could say to her that would make her feel better.

 _She's still feeling bad about Smokeleg's death. There's nothing I_ could _say to her that would make her feel completely healed._

 _Still, I wish I could do_ something!

 _Of course I can, I'm her mentor! I just have to think…._

Ruffleslash watched Aspenpaw through narrowed eyes, but his attention was soon diverted by a growl coming from the other side of the border. Turning, he came face to face with a snarling, brown tabby face and narrowed, dark, amber eyes.

Ruffleslash blinked in surprise, then dipped his head in respect to the ShadowClan deputy. "Rustclaw," he greeted, stepping next to Aspenpaw. "How has ShadowClan been?"

The dark tom growled under his breath. "Good. Better than ThunderClan, I suppose."

Ruffleslash nodded, looking to his father, Heatcloud, for help with the hostile tom. The ginger warrior picked up on his son's call.

Heatcloud snarled, "And why do you say that, Rustclaw?" Ruffleslash sighed. He had expected his father to at least _try_ to stay peaceful with the ShadowClan cat. That obviously hadn't happened.

The brown tabby tom snorted. "Why could ShadowClan _not_ be doing better than ThunderClan? Not that we aren't _always_ better than you." The other cats on the patrol—two warriors and an apprentice—smirked and laughed along with their deputy, who stared at the ThunderClan cats in contempt. The pine territory cats' neighbors just watched, confused.

Heatcloud rolled his eyes. "Look here, Rustclaw, you can talk, but in a real battle, ThunderClan would beat you any day!"

"Oh really?" The dark tabby puffed out his chest, swiping at the ground with unsheathed claws. "You wouldn't be so comfortable saying that on our side of the border, cat!"

"Oh, I think I would!" The two cats were now nose to nose, each just barely in their own territory, standing on the thin line in between the two clans. The cats of ShadowClan and ThunderClan alike were facing each other, fur bristled and hackles raised.

Ruffleslash opened his mouth in an attempt to say something, anything to his father. Why couldn't he just keep his jaws shut for once? But the current situation didn't look like it could be solved by just a little bit of compromising. He should just fight the other clan cats with Heatcloud and Rockpelt and then go back to the camp with some minor injuries.

But then he looked behind him and saw Aspenpaw. She was watching the ShadowClan cats, eyes narrowed with anger towards them. Yet beneath that, all that Ruffleslash could see was fear. She was obviously not prepared for a border skirmish on her first day back on apprentice duties. There was no way that Ruffleslash was going to let his first apprentice get hurt again.

"Woah, woah," he meowed, stepping in between his father and the rival clan's deputy. "There's no need to get into a fight."

Rustclaw snapped at him, furious. "I think there is. This pathetic excuse for a cat thinks he can beat me in a battle."

Ruffleslash ignored the bristling form of his father standing behind him. "Look, I'm sure there's another way to settle this—"

"Oh yeah?" Heatcloud snarled, turning towards his son. "And what else would we do, Ruffleslash?"

Every cat was watching the dark ginger cat. Yet he was at a loss for words at the question.

 _What now?_

 _I don't know, I'm you!_

 _Well, think of something!_

 _Umm…_

Try as he might, his mind couldn't conjure up a single idea. Maybe fighting was the simplest solution; it would get this awkward moment between the two clans over with fastest.

 _Wow, there sure have been a lot awkward moments so far today…._

But Ruffleslash never had time to say anything to the other cats. Because his apprentice beat him to it.

"Why are we even fighting right now?"

Every cat, both from ShadowClan and ThunderClan, turned to stare at the black and silver tabby in shock. No one had expected the apprentice to speak up.

The she-cat didn't back down from their staring gazes. "Our clans have no quarrel now. Why start one for as dumb a reason as 'he said he could beat me but I don't think he could'?"

The deputy of ShadowClan snarled at Aspenpaw's words, taking a step closer to the ThunderClan cats, but she continued before he could say anything.

"Besides," she meowed. "There _are_ more of us than there are of you. And if any ShadowClan warriors, especially the deputy, were to get hurt, then the only message that you would be sending the other clans would be that you're not powerful enough to take on a border patrol, one that had been facing battles nonstop for moons on end, without leaving unscathed."

With that, Screechpaw sat down, wrapped her tail around her paws, and glared at the ShadowClan cats through narrowed eyes.

Everyone was at a loss for words now. Not only had an apprentice been the one to speak back to the ShadowClan deputy, but she was barely over seven moons old. And she had proven quite a point.

Rustclaw just glared at the she-cat from his side of the border. He didn't move a claw or say anything; he just glared. But everyone there knew that he had been beaten by the she-cat's words.

With a lash of his tail and a final dirty look at the ThunderClan cats, Rustclaw and his warriors retreated into their territory, not giving any parting words to their "undeserving" neighbors. They just disappeared into their territory, leaving the other patrol gaping in surprise.

"Wow, Screechpaw!" Batpaw mewed in astonishment. "How did you do that?"

She shrugged blankly, taking in the various comments from the other cats in a dreary haze. Unlike the others, Ruffleslash hadn't the foggiest idea of what to say to Aspenpaw.

 _How about, "That was great!"_

 _"_ _I'm proud of you!"_

 _"_ _Awesome!"_

 _"_ _You showed him!"_

 _"_ _Nice going, Aspenpaw!"_

 _No, I'm not saying any of that!_

 _Why?_

Ruffleslash looked at Aspenpaw, who just nodded to the cats around her as they talked excitedly. It was clear that she wasn't paying them much attention.

 _Because it's not what she wants to hear._

 _Like that makes sense._

 _Why do you always have to argue with me? You_ are _me!_

 _I know that! I'm you, you don't have to remind me about everything!_

 _Then stop talking!_

 _You're the only one who can make me stop talking! You're me!_

 _Ugh. You know, you really irritate me sometimes._

 _Of course I know!_

The patrol plodded on, the encounter with the ShadowClan cats a thing of the past. Ruffleslash watched his apprentice as she padded on, sadly kicking at the ground again. He knew what was getting her down: her father's death.

And he knew that there really was no way for him to make her feel totally better about it, but maybe there was a way for him to keep her mind off of him….

The patrol finally reached the lake, where the ShadowClan border patrol finished. Ruffleslash looked down at Aspenpaw, then turned towards the rest of the patrol.

"You guys can go back to camp. We're going to go straight to training. We'll see you at the end of the day."

Ruffleslash smiled as the three others walked away from him and his apprentice. Maybe Aspenpaw would be happier without them around.

"Okay, Aspenpaw, we're going to play a game!"

She looked up at him cautiously. "What kind of game?"

"A fun one." Ruffleslash looked around, coming up with an idea as fast as you could say "mouse." "Okay, whoever can make it to the Great Oak from here fastest gets first pick of the freshkill pile when we get back to camp"—Ruffleslash smiled when he saw Aspenpaw visibly brighten. But he could still do better—"and the loser has to do whatever the winner says for the rest of the day."

Aspenpaw gasped in surprise at that. In the blink of an eye, she was on her paws, kneading the ground in anticipation. "Oh, you are _so_ on, Ruffles."

Her mentor laughed. "Ruffles? What kind of nickname is that?"

Aspenpaw playfully smirked. "One that belongs to a loser."

He grinned, narrowing his eyes. "Over confident, are we?"

"Yup!"

The two stood next to each other, each preparing themselves, facing deeper into the territory. Ruffleslash purred as he saw his apprentice pawing the ground.

"Ready…."

She shot him a glance, half serious, half amused.

"Set…."

She stared ahead now, bouncing on her haunches to get ready for that last word.

"Go!"

Aspenpaw shot forward as soon as Ruffleslash meowed it, surprising him so much that he barely registered its meaning himself. He pumped his legs beneath him, racing over the soft forest floor. Just ahead, he could see Aspenpaw, throwing up tufts of grass and brambles with every paw-step that she took.

He was gaining on her, slowly but surely. His head was right next to her rib cage when she looked over at him. Her blue green eyes widened in surprise as they locked contact with his bright green ones, but the shock lasted for only a moment. Quickly, she snapped out of her trance and threw herself forward with twice the ferocity and strength as before, leaving her opponent in her dust.

Ruffleslash coughed on the dirt and leaves that his apprentice had literally shoved in his face, blinking to try to clear his sight. But it was no use, and he had to stop to get them free from his eyes.

When he looked up, there was no sight of Aspenpaw, and when he reached the Great Oak, he was finally able to see her, proudly perched on one of the mighty roots of the tree.

 _Wow. She's fast. I mean, I would have let her win either way, but apparently I don't need to go easy on her!_

 _…_ _Not like I did. I was trying my hardest._

"Good job, Aspenpaw!" he congratulated as he came to a panting rest by her side. "You can really run!"

She shrugged, licking a paw and drawing it over her ear. "It was nothing. I learned it from watching you."

He smiled, then coughed as a stray dust particle scratched the back of his throat. "Well, you did awesome! You definitely deserve to pick your freshkill before me!"

"Oh, no, you're not getting off easy, Ruffleslash!" Aspenpaw good-naturedly growled. "You have to do whatever I say for the rest of the day!"

The dark ginger and black tom groaned. He had hoped that the race would be enough to make her forget. It obviously hadn't.

"Fine, what do you want?"

The black and silver cat pondered the question, gazing around her in thought. But she had decided long ago what she would make him do.

"I want you to pretend to be Skyheart!"

Ruffleslash almost choked on the dust in his mouth. She couldn't be serious, right?

"Seriously?!"

"Yup."

He sighed, shaking his head in amusement. _But if this is what I have to do to make her feel better, then fine._

He looked at his apprentice with pleading eyes, but she just shook her head and smiled, the anticipation killing her. Ruffleslash sighed again. There was no way out of this one. It would be best to get it over with.

"Hey there, Ruffleslash!" he meowed, widening his eyes and putting on a huge, stupid grin. "Aren't you looking handsome today?"

Aspenpaw smiled from where she sat by the Great Oak, fueling Ruffleslash and his dumb show.

"You know who's better than Ruffleslash? This bush!" Aspenpaw giggled. "Why hello there, Sir Bush! How has your day been?"

He padded over to a nearby shrub and brushed up against it, rubbing his head down the whole length of the plant. He quickly froze, though, and whispered to the bush loudly so that his apprentice could hear.

"Excuse me, Bushy," he whisper-yelled, shooting a glance over at a small pile of leaves. "But you're not good enough for me anymore."

Aspenpaw burst out in laughter as Ruffleslash smoothly padded over to the leaves, strutting in a pathetically executed "dignified" manner. He purred, sniffing them each in turn. "Hey, leaves! Oh, I wish I could go on patrol with _you_ everyday!"

Aspenpaw tried to stifle a snort of laughter as he continued. Ruffleslash just kept on going, both hating and loving every second of it.

"Actually, never mind, leaves old pal. I've found someone else!" He shot the Great Oak a look, widening his eyes as he walked over to it.

"Oh, great and mighty tree! Where have you been all my life?! Why, I adore you! I worship you! There is no being on Earth that is greater than you in all your glory!"

Ruffleslash whipped around at the sound of Aspenpaw's hysterical laughter. She was rolling around on the ground, her laughter coming uncontrollably.

"Please!" she begged, trying to stand on her shaky legs but failing miserably. "Please stop! That's good enough!"

Ruffleslash let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank StarClan! I am never doing that ever again!"

Aspenpaw smiled, finally able to stand up now. "Oh, come on! That was fun! And I was the only one to see it, so it's not like the whole clan is going to be talking about it, right?"

Ruffleslash shrugged. "I guess not." He purred slightly. "It was kind of fun, though. But I'm still never doing that again!"

Aspenpaw nodded. "And I won't make you do it again." She looked up at him through narrowed, teasing eyes. "…or will I?"

Ruffleslash laughed, hitting his apprentice over the head with his tail lightly. "Whatever. Let's go back to camp. You have some freshkill to eat, remember?"

Ruffleslash padded through the trees, Aspenpaw next to him. They talked all the way through, laughing and joking along with each other. When they finally reached camp, and when the two settled down, each with their own piece of freshkill, Ruffleslash had one last thought as the sun set over the horizon.

 _I couldn't have asked for a better apprentice._

 _. . . ….. . . ._

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **3246 words! Nice….right?**

 **Ok, not much to say about anything this chapter….yeah….sorry again for updating so late! Sadly, life has unexpected twists and turns :'(**

 **Oh, and thanks again for understanding about the whole RR's thing! U guys are great!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT HAS TO DO WITH THE APPRENTICES' WARRIOR NAMES!**

 **QOTDT1) who do you ship with who? This could include screech/aspenpaw, shinepaw, batpaw, whiskerpaw, ruffleslash, wolfpaw, spikepaw, wonderstrength, flamelick, ANYONE! Do as many as you can or want! I love seeing who you ship with who! ;)**

 **QOTDT2) do u think this story can make it to 1,000 reviews? More? Less?**

 **Thanks you guys! u all rock! I luv every single one of you! And don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! K byeeeeee c u later! XD**


	28. Training Sessions

**I am really really sorry that it took so long to update. This week has been absolutely awful for me. hopefully it will start to get better. :)**

 **Also, sorry, but this chapter is kind of a random filler. Its not the most exciting, but I promise, the story gets really good really soon. LOTS OF ROMANCE! YAY!**

 **But for the meantime, this chapter is (mostly) from the perspective of Wolfpaw! Yay or nay?**

 **And lastly, MY BIRTHDAY IS ON MONDAY! ***CONFETTI IN ALL CAPS!*** YAYYY IM GOING TO BE 14! Yeah. Happy birthday to me. woohoo.**

 **Ok, here it is!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

Wolfpaw sniffed as he pushed his way out of the apprentices den, scratching at his nose beneath the bright orange sky. He flicked his tail when he noticed Thornstar talking to Nettlesting, his brother's mentor.

The newleaf wind whipped his brown and grey tabby fur as he joined Spikepaw and Hedgeleaf by the mass of complaining and bedraggled WindClan cats waiting to be given their duties. He sat next to them quietly, the three of them being the heaviest of stones among the chaos of the storm.

The peace didn't last long. Wolfpaw yowled in surprise when he was bowled over by a bundle of fluff. He blinked his eyes to try to see the cat, whose silhouette was covering up the sun, making his vision dark and blurry.

He smiled when he realized it was one of Owlsoar's kits, Copperkit. She was a small kit for being two moons old, but her kindness and cheeriness made up for her size. She had a smooth and fluffy golden pelt with white patches, white ears, and a white circle around her left eye.

She stepped off of him and purred. "Hi, Wolfpaw!"

He dipped his head in pretend respect and smiled. "Hello, Copperstar!"

She laughed and batted a paw at his tail. "Wolfstar! My sidekick leader!"

He narrowed his eyes playfully. "Who are you calling a sidekick?"

They laughed together, but stopped when they heard a small scoff from behind them. "Oh, will you shut up, Copperkit? You're so stupid! Just go shove a rabbit down your throat so I don't have to listen to your kit-like babbling anymore!"

They turned to see Copperkit's sister and only other sibling. She had long black fur and specks of gold and white all over her pelt. Her icy blue eyes shone with contempt towards everyone and everything.

"Swiftkit," Copperkit sighed. "What's your problem now?"

The little she-cat snorted and rolled her eyes. "I have no problem. I just have the sense to know that what you're doing is childish and stupid."

"We're only two moons old!" Copperkit protested. "How is this childish? Why don't you just act your age?"

Swiftkit narrowed her eyes in anger and snarled as she lashed her tail. "Because I refuse to stoop that low." With that, she marched away, growling the whole way.

Wolfpaw and Copperkit watched with blank looks of shock as she left. She finally frowned and sighed again. "Well, I guess I should probably go and talk to her."

Wolfpaw nodded. "Just don't hurt yourself, okay?" he meowed. Copperkit grinned and walked after her sister, leaving Wolfpaw to go back to his own sibling.

"Done chatting it up with Copperkit, Wolfpaw?" Spikepaw mewed, looking at his brother with amusement. "Is it the beginning of love?"

Wolfpaw blinked in surprise. "N-no! I don't like her. I mean, I like her, but I don't _liiiiike_ her."

Spikepaw huffed. "Sure, Wolfpaw, whatever."

"No, I'm serious!" Why didn't his brother believe him? "I don't like her, I like someone else!"

Spikepaw narrowed his eyes in amusement. "Who?"

Wolfpaw found that he was surprised for the twentieth time in the past two minutes. How did Spikepaw not know that he liked—

"Spikepaw, Wolfpaw! Let's go!"

The two brothers turned to see their mentors, Nettlesting and Thornstar, calling to them impatiently from the camp entrance. They sprinted up the tunnel before the apprentices could reach them, leaving the two to catch up.

Once they were out of camp, Wolfpaw could finally breathe. He could finally focus on running, just stretching forward and moving the ground beneath his paws behind him. To run fast, faster than ever before. He sighed in content; WindClan really was where he belonged.

They finally caught up with the older cats at the training area, a flat expanse of ground overlooking the vast majority of the moors. Thornstar and Nettlesting were sitting there when the apprentices arrived, tails wrapped around their paws, ears twitching in annoyance.

Thornstar stood up when he saw Wolfpaw and Spikepaw climbing the hill towards them. He paced impatiently until they finally reached them.

"Took you long enough," he growled, amber eyes narrowed to slits of anger. "Now hurry up, we have a lot to get to today.

"Right now, we're going to be learning the head strike. It's quite a simple move, so you shouldn't have to work on it more than a few times to perfect it." He glared at the apprentices through narrowed eyes, making the sentence sound more of a threat than a statement.

"Now all you have to do is repeatedly hit your opponent over the head with a series of hard and fast swipes. If you're lucky, you'll hit an eye, which is one of the most sensitive parts of any cat's body. They'll be left disoriented and hurt any way that you hit them, so then you'll be able to finish the weakling off. You're both expected to use the move in the mock battle that you're going to do right now. If you don't, then you get no pick of the freshkill."

Thornstar flicked his tail, signaling for them to start practicing. The mentors in WindClan never practiced with their apprentices; they just told them the basics of the move and had them figure them out themselves. If an apprentice couldn't figure out how to perform the battle move on their own, then they didn't deserve their mentor's "wise" words and teachings. The apprentice system was a tough one on the moor.

But the toughness of that system did help to hide one of Thornstar's only weaknesses: a horrible limp given to him from the mysterious she-cat on that night long ago. After his foreleg had been broken, Branchtail had found it to have been ravaged so much that it was beyond repair. This hadn't gone over so well with Thornstar; he thought any sign of weakness was proof that the owner of the flaw was useless and stupid. And the great and mighty Thornstar was not useless and stupid.

So he covered it up when he was in front of the other clans, even tried to cover it up in front of his own clan, though they all knew about it. But no one spoke of it out of their fear of the powerful and constantly bloodthirsty tabby leader.

He held his head high and walked normally, even if the pain from his previously broken limb ripped him to shreds on the inside. Then, when he was all alone, he would lick the somewhat disfigured leg and curse the name of the cat who had done it to him, though her title he was not aware of.

That was how he had lived his life ever since the battle for Aspenkit, now Screechpaw: in agony and fury that was overshadowed by his pride and even more fury. And he was content with it, at least for the moment.

Wolfpaw padded over to his brother once he shook his head clear of its weary thoughts and the two got into position to begin their battle practice. Shooting one last nervous glance at Thornstar and his narrowed eyes, Wolfpaw and Spikepaw began.

The two siblings circled each other cautiously, each watching the other like a hawk watching a field mouse. They moved warily, neither certain of when the other would strike.

And Spikepaw finally did. He rocketed forward, barreling into his brother before he could growl in surprise. They finished rolling on the dusty floor and Spikepaw came up on top, sheathed paws gripping Wolfpaw's shoulders and haunches.

Wolfpaw got his hind legs free, shoving them into Spikepaw's belly so that the golden and brown tom went flying across the clearing. Wolfpaw didn't let his brother go on the offensive this time; before he could stand up, he grabbed his brother's scruff, a move that he hadn't been taught, and hoisted him high into the air.

The daggling cat let out a small yowl of surprise as the ground beneath his paws disappeared and was replaced with the open air. Twisting in his opponent's jaws, he tried to kick or paw at him, do anything to get him to drop him, but Wolfpaw only lifted his head higher and clenched his teeth tighter.

Wolfpaw thought he had it won until his brother gave a sudden heave and went completely limp, his body dropping to the ground and swinging in his jaws, which now carried the whole of the other cat's weight. Wolfpaw snorted in pain and opened his mouth, his teeth unable to hold onto the extra cat that was completely supported by them.

Spikepaw jumped to his paws in a flash, immediately turning on Wolfpaw and catching him on the side of the head with his paw. Though the claws were sheathed, the impact was still enough to make Wolfpaw stagger, and he fell when Spikepaw delivered blow after blow upon him, the painful hits raining down on his skull without any sign of ceasing.

 _What now?_

The question stopped his brain. He didn't know the answer to it!

Looking over at the two mentors watching the battle play out, Wolfpaw had a sudden urge to win. Though he in no way needed Thornstar's approval of him, he felt that he had to show the leader that he was at least worth something. And this was the easiest way to do that.

Flattening his ears, Wolfpaw held his paws above his muzzle, which was just enough of protection from the blows of his adversary so that he could get to his shaky paws.

Spikepaw growled at him, then moved to do the head strike again. But Wolfpaw saw him coming, and easily dodged the flung out paw. Another one came at him, then another, and another, over and over and over again. Yet no matter how many times Spikepaw tried, he just couldn't hit his brother at all, not to mention enough to stun him.

Wolfpaw caught a flying paw in his mouth, then, without thinking, squeezed it and twisted his head so that Spikepaw yelped in pain and was sent tumbling to the side.

He got to his legs, trying to shake his tabby pelt free from the annoying dust, but was only met with Wolfpaw. The tom quickly swiped Spikepaw's forelegs out from under him in a matter of moments, causing the tom to fall flat on his face.

Seizing the opportunity, Wolfpaw jumped onto his back, pressing his hind legs into his brother's back to keep him from getting up. Then, to finish the battle, he struck out at Spikepaw with his forepaw once, then twice, then more times than you could count. Endless and accurate every time, they made Spikepaw yowl and snarl in pain whenever they made contact, and the tom eventually was forced to surrender, which was completely against his nature.

The two brothers stood back, one with his head high and the other with his ears low. They turned to look at the mentors, awaiting their critique.

Nettlesting just turned to Thornstar, not sure whether or not he was even allowed to have an opinion in this matter. But he ended up having had agreed with what the leader said anyways.

"Overall, that was good," the brown tabby growled. "I am a bit disappointed in you, Spikepaw, that you gave up so easily in the end. I hope that you will try not to do so again. But you both did use the head strike, so I suppose you both will get to eat." He flicked his tail and stood up, bounding away towards camp, calling out one last thing, a sentence that sent shivers along Wolfpaw's spine, though the words didn't sound menacing to the untrained eye.

"As long as you apprentices do what I say and continue to train, then we will get along just fine."

. . . ….. . . .

Wolfpaw splashed out of the river, shaking his pelt dry and sending droplets of water spraying all over the purring she-cat. Behind him, he heard the sound of Spikepaw as he desperately tried to catch up with him.

"Wolfpaw!" Screechpaw meowed, frowning in pretend anger. "You got me wet!"

He sighed. "And you looked so well groomed, too!"

Screechpaw pouted sadly. "Yeah, and now I'm never going to get clean again!"

Spikepaw bounded out of the river, shaking his pelt and sending a fresh wave of water rushing over Screechpaw, who yelped in shock yet again.

"Seriously?!" she exclaimed, then purred as she shook out her own fur and the excess water turned back towards Wolfpaw and Spikepaw.

The three rolled on the floor, partially because they were laughing so hard, but also to try to dry themselves further. It didn't work.

Screechpaw sat up, smiling. Seeing her WindClan friends always made her happy; she wished that they could meet more often, but the rising tensions between their clans prohibited it. She sighed. At least it meant that they _had_ to make the most out of every time they met.

"So what do you guys want to do today, then?" Screechpaw mewed, looking between the two toms.

Spikepaw opened his mouth to say something, but Wolfpaw cut him off. "Why don't we teach you how to hunt rabbits?"

Spikepaw flicked his ears in annoyance, but Screechpaw just grinned. "Sure! But don't we have to go into your territory to do that?" She looked behind her, deep into the ThunderClan side of the border. "We basically never get rabbits over here."

Wolfpaw tilted his head in thought. "Well, we could always go up past the border and practice. I'm pretty sure that there are moors up that way, right?"

He turned to Spikepaw, who just nodded stiffly.

"Okay, then!" Screechpaw meowed, jumping to her paws. "Let's go!"

Before the others were even up, she was racing away, bounding over stray bushes and logs in her excitement. She looked back at Wolfpaw and Spikepaw, purring. "Are you two going to let a ThunderClan cat beat you in a race?"

Wolfpaw grinned, kneading the ground in anticipation before he raced after her. "In your dreams!"

Leaving his brother to catch up, Wolfpaw ran like he had never run before, shooting over the leaf covered ground like an eagle through the clouds. He was weightless when he was running, as light as a feather, yet still faster than any cat he had met before.

It only took a moment for him to see Screechpaw ahead of him. For a forest cat, she was a good runner. Graceful yet swift, she would probably be faster than the majority of her own clanmates.

But not Wolfpaw, a WindClan apprentice. As he finally caught up to her, he glanced sideway to see a look of utter shock on her face as they pounded over the ground. She sniffed determinedly and pumped the ground harder, just barely pulling ahead of Wolfpaw.

Looking ahead, the silver and brown tom realized that the edge of the territories was almost upon them; if he wanted to win, which he obviously did, he'd have to make a move now.

Quickly and easily, he sprang forward, putting the last of his energy into the moves. In three strides, he had already overtaken Screechpaw and left her in his dust. But he didn't stop. He rocketed forward, throwing up tufts of grass with each hurried step.

He finally flew over the border, screeching to a stop as he dug in his claws and dropped to the ground. Turning around, he grinned as he saw Screechpaw panting as she ran over the territory marker, too, then flopped to the dirty ground herself, gasping for air.

"That…that was…that was great!" she finally managed, her rib cage extending to twice its size every time she took a heaving breath. "I haven't had to run that hard in forever!"

Wolfpaw purred. "Well, you have to run pretty fast if you want to beat a WindClan cat!" Screechpaw smiled, too exhausted to purr.

The two turned when they heard Spikepaw, who casually walked over the border line. "Hey," he greeted somewhat awkwardly.

Screechpaw smiled. "Hey to you, too, you slow badger!"

He frowned in mock confusion. "Who are you calling a badger?"

Wolfpaw stood up and padded over to his brother. He took a deep inhale, then staggered away as if it was too much for him to bear. "You, remember?" he choked out. "When we were kits, Screechpaw said you smelled more like a badger than me."

Spikepaw's ears drooped. "Oh yeah."

The three burst out laughing at the memory, then turned toward the moor. Wolfpaw stopped them when they were on a small hill.

"Now listen here, apprentice." He spoke to Screechpaw as if he was her mentor. She just rolled her eyes and smiled. "To catch a rabbit, you must do _exactly_ as I say.

"You will usually need multiple cats to catch one because they're so fast. If one cat can spook the rabbit into running into another's paws, then it's really easy to kill one. If not, then you have to run after it and hope that you're fast enough…" He looked at her with amusement shining in his eyes. "…which you probably are."

Then he flicked his tail and stood up, sweeping his foreleg around to make it look like he was taking a bow. "Now, watch the master at work!"

Wolfpaw slunk over to the top of a nearby hill, ears pricked to hear any sounds of movement over the moor. He finally spotted two tall ears peeking out over the top of the high, wild grass.

He padded nearer to it quietly; if he made even the slightest noise, the animal might be alerted and run off. He could handle chasing it, but if he was too far away when it began to sprint, then running after it would be hopeless.

He could see the individual furry hairs that made up the rabbit's fluffy tail when he sprang, jumping through the air and directly to the left of the animal. The creature got spooked, making out a high pitched squeal in fear as it bolted away.

Aware of Screechpaw's and Spikepaw's eyes following him, Wolfpaw pursued it, leaping over mounds of misshapen hills and pounding over the ground. Flicking his ears toward his prey, he could hear the small pants that escaped it and the sniffing sound it inhaled as it ran.

Giving one last tremendous leap, Wolfpaw bowled over the rabbit and bit its neck quickly, killing it before it could escape his grasp yet again. He grunted as he pick it up; it was a big rabbit, after all, even for newleaf.

But he held his head high as he trotted back to his brother and Screechpaw, who was purring and jumping excitedly. He spat the rabbit's scruff out, feeling proud as he heard the satisfying thud of its large body hitting the ground.

"That was great!" Screechpaw exclaimed. "Can I try now?"

Wolfpaw smiled flicking his tail over his shoulder, back towards where he had just come. "Of course!"

"Actually," Spikepaw interrupted before Screechpaw could give a small leap of joy. "I think we had better be heading back." He gestured towards the sky, where the moon was sinking lower and lower, hurriedly making its way towards the horizon.

Wolfpaw wanted to protest, say that they could stay out just a little bit longer. But they were far away from camp as it was, and if they left now, they could return with just enough time to make it to their nests unseen.

Wolfpaw sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, Screechpaw, I'll teach you another time, okay?"

The ThunderClan apprentice shrugged, but it didn't cover up her obvious disappointment. "It's fine. I'd better be going, anyways. Thanks for showing me how to catch a rabbit, at least!"

The three friends padded back towards their clan, over the territory marker, and finally next to the shallow area of the river that doubled as a border. Spikepaw and Wolfpaw crossed over it, a difficult thing to do for the latter because of the rabbit dangling from his jaws, but he still managed to do it and raise his tail in his ritual farewell to Screechpaw before he headed back.

The two padded through the grasses in silence, quietly padding over the moors. Wolfpaw wondered what he could say to end the awkward silence, but his brain settled on nothing at all.

All seemed well to the two, that they would get back into camp without being noticed, but a low growl stopped them in their tracks when they entered into the WindClan camp.

"And where have you two apprentices been?"

Wolfpaw winced at the sound of his mentor's voice and turned to see the seething Thornstar, ears twitching in annoyance and impatience. He only got angrier at the lack of response that he received.

"Well?"

Wolfpaw finally found his tongue. "We, uh, went out hunting. I couldn't sleep." He dropped his rabbit at his mentor's paws and looked at the ground, ears flat against his head.

Thornstar sniffed the rabbit, slightly impressed at the size of the animal. But he wasn't convinced.

"And why did you only bring back one piece of freshkill? Where's yours?" He gestured to Spikepaw, narrowing his eyes.

Wolfpaw stepped in. "We caught it together. It was on the far side of the territory and we had to drag it back, which took a while, so we didn't have time to stop for any more."

The WindClan leader still didn't look like he believed the two brothers, but he dismissed it somewhat begrudgingly. Yet he knew they were lying, so he had to punish them. If he didn't, then he just wouldn't be Thornstar.

"Fine," he snarled. "Go lay your freshkill on the pile and wake up Nettlesting; we're starting today's training now."

Wolfpaw and Spikepaw's mouths hung agape in astonishment. They hadn't slept all night! How could they possible go through a whole day's training running on barely any sleep?

Thornstar meowed again before they could protest. "And I won't budge on this. If you argue, then we'll just stay out longer. So I'd shut those mouths of yours if I were you."

He flicked his tail and headed out through the tunnel, leaving Spikepaw to wake his mentor and Wolfpaw to put his rabbit on the freshkill.

As the silver and brown apprentice padded out onto the moors, following his mentor's scent trail, he knew that the day would stink. His eyes would droop and he would nod off from time to time, but deep inside of himself, he couldn't silence one thought.

That meeting with Screechpaw had been worth it, no matter what.

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **3795 words! Yay…?**

 **Sorry, I know that this chapter was actually pretty boring. I'm sorry, I hadn't intended it to be. Next chapter has some more Ruffleslash in it, though! Just wait!**

 **Again, I am going to go back and delete any old RR's every few chapters. Just wanted to remind your guys again ;)**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT IS ABOUT THE APPRENTICES' WARRIOR NAMES!**

 **QOTDT1) What do you think of Wolfpaw? Spikepaw? Any cat?**

 **QOTDT2) What do u really really really want to happen in this story? This could include any shippings, deaths, new leaderships, ANYTHING! I'm excited to see what you think!**

 **QOTDT3 (its kind of like QOTDT2 but also not…..yeah.) how do want this story to go/end? What main story happenings should take place?**

 **Ok thank you for reading the new chapter! Again, sorry if it was really boring or rushed or whatever! Luv u all! Will update when I get 15 reviews for this chapter! Byeeee!**


	29. The Better Gathering

**I know. I know, im bad. Im really sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I SWEAR, I will try to the best of my ability to never let it happen again.**

 ***shakes fist at sky* STUPID LIFE GETTING IN THE WAY OF MY WRITING! CURSES!**

 **So yeah. Im really really really sorry.**

 **Few things before I get to the chapter. First off, and let people dance in the streets with joy and happiness at the hearing of this wonderful news, the atrocious name "Avalanchestar" is dead. I know, I know, its stupid. Im not even going to defend how absolutely stupid the name was. Now, the leader of riverclan is Palestar. So yeah. Pretend that Avalanchestar never existed, she didn't die, the name just got replaced, k? same cat, just a different name. I even went back to the allegiances and the chapters in the book where her name was mentioned and changed it. "Avalanchestar" will never be heard of again in this or any following books. (but there is a warrior in riverclan named Avalanchetail, shes just a warrior. Completely different cat. Sorry if I confused you ;)**

 **Also, theres a new poll on my profile page! More details at the bottom of the chapter.**

 **Some good news, though! I am on chapter 100 FOR THE OUTLINE and im not done yet! So im guessing the book will end up being at least 120 chapters! Buckle your seat belts, people, this is going to be a long ride! XD and I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Now on with the chapter! ;)**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

Screechpaw jumped out of the sandy hollow, shaking off some of the fine white powder that had gotten lost among her silky pelt. Ruffleslash padded after her, catching up as they headed back towards camp.

"Great training session today, Aspenpaw! You really showed Batpaw that he can't beat you in a fight!" the ginger and black tom praised, shooting her a proud, grinning look.

Screechpaw shrugged nonchalantly. "What can I say? I learned from the best."

Ruffleslash laughed. "I should hope you think that I'm the best! I mean, who else could beat me?"

Screechpaw looked up as if in deep thought. "Well, I could!"

"You?!"

"Yeah," Screechpaw meowed, trying to stifle a purr. "I did already beat you in a race, didn't I?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so."

"What do you mean 'I guess so'? I won easily!"

Screechpaw smiled as her mentor sighed in defeat. "I guess you're right, Aspenpaw. You could beat me at anything!"

The two burst out laughing, scaring a few birds away in the process, but the two cats didn't care. They were just having fun, enjoying each other's company out in the bright, sunhigh world.

 _Ruffleslash is cool._ Screechpaw thought to herself.

 _Is that it?_

 _What?_ Poolkit's words had confused Screechpaw. What did she mean?

 _Is that all you think of him? Cool?_

 _I-i don't know…what do you mean?_

 _I mean that you two seem close. It doesn't seem like the average apprentice-mentor relationship._

 _Are you implying that I like him?!_

 _It took you long enough, Screechbutt._

 _No, no I don't…._

Screechpaw looked up at her mentor. He had a few black spots on his back, but other than that, he was a completely dark ginger tom, almost dark russet. He looked down at her and smiled, bright green eyes flashing in the light. Then he looked ahead of him and kept walking.

 _Well, Screechy?_

 _I…I don't know. No, no, I don't like him._

 _Really?_

 _Yes…._

 _Mmhmm._

 _You don't believe me?_

 _Would you?_

 _Yes._

 _Would you believe this? "Oh, I don't know if I like him! I'm so confused! Please help me, I'm too stupid to realize what my dumb little emotions are!"_

 _Oh._

 _Can you honestly tell me that you'd believe that._

 _I can't_ honestly _tell you, but I can tell you!_

 _You're hopeless._

 _That's what you signed up for, Poolkit._

 _I didn't sign up for anything. And don't call me Poolkit!_

 _I don't understand why—_

Screechpaw was shaken out of her inner quarrel at Ruffleslash's yowl of shock. Looking at him, she saw surprise and confusion written clearly in his face.

She frowned slightly, eyes wide, slightly weirded out at his sudden change in attitude. "What?"

He ignored the question. "Are you okay?"

Screechpaw blinked. "Y-yeah…? Why?"

Ruffleslash took a step forward barely a mouse length away from his apprentice. Screechpaw swallowed, her pelt growing hot as he stood so close.

Ruffleslash looked into her eyes, his own green ones narrowed in confusion, ears twitching.

 _What's his deal?_ Poolkit meowed in her mind.

At that exact moment, Ruffleslash jumped back, tail lashing. "It happened again!"

"What? What happened again?" Screechpaw was so confused now that she could hardly think straight. "What are you even talking about?"

"Your eyes," Ruffleslash whispered, gazing at them intently again. "They just changed color."

"What?"

"Yeah," he mewed. "It's weird. They just changed from blue green to yellow."

Screechpaw frowned as she processed the information. Her eyes had changed? Why?

 _Wow, you're stupid._

"They did it again!" Ruffleslash exclaimed, shooting to his feet and beginning to pace, ears flat on his head. "That's so weird."

 _Okay, I know now._

 _Yeah. You should've figured it out immediately._

 _Oh, shut up!_

"Why do they do that?" Ruffleslash asked, staring at her now. His green eyes pierced through her, seeming to stare into her soul. Screechpaw felt as if he could read her thoughts just by looking at her.

 _I'd better not tell him about Poolkit. And don't talk until after this is over, Poolkit!_

 _You're the insane boss lady._

 _I said shut up!_

"I don't know," Screechpaw lied. "It's the first I've heard about my eyes changing colors. It's weird."

"Yeah…weird." Ruffleslash just kept staring at her, head tilted and eyes narrowed slightly. "You don't know why?"

Screechpaw looked back at her mentor, feeling a rising sense of panic. The voices in her head started to rise, but she shoved them down. "Yes. I'm sure."

He didn't buy it. Not even a little bit. He just looked back at Screechpaw, green eyes penetrating into the depths of her. He frowned as he scanned her over, then just nodded stiffly and stood up.

 _If she doesn't want to tell me, then I can't force her to. Maybe she'll eventually come to trust me enough and tell me then._

"Okay, Aspenpaw, whatever. Let's just get back to camp."

Screechpaw stifled a sigh of relief as she followed her mentor deeper into the trees. Padding next to him, she looked over at him, and he looked back. His face kept falling into the shadows of the forest, so it was hard for her to tell how he felt. If anything, he looked a little upset.

But then he returned her gaze and gave her a little half smile and a wink. That made Screechpaw break into a wide grin.

She bumped into Ruffleslash, making him sway a little bit as they walked. He shot her a look that said, "Oh, you want to go there?" He nudged her with his strong shoulder and she yelped as she just barely missed colliding with a thick oak tree.

"Really?" she laughed. "Oh, it is on!"

Screechpaw ran to catch up with him again and shoved him with her forepaws. Ruffleslash yowled as he ran straight into thorn bush.

Screechpaw gasped as he struggled out of the bush, then burst out laughing as she saw his thorn covered pelt. "Are you okay?" she managed to say through her constant purring.

Ruffleslash shook his head, then looked back at his apprentice. "Yeah…" He violently shook his head again, which did no good to the progression of cleaning his fur. "I'm good."

"I'm sorry!"

"Oh, don't lie to me!" Ruffleslash chuckled, then flinched slightly as a thorn dug into his paw pad. "But it's fine. My paw will get better."

"Here," Screechpaw meowed. "We're almost back. I'll help you."

Ruffleslash limped as he got to his paws, shaking out the one with the thorn in it. He leaned on Aspenpaw as they started towards the camp.

"You know," he meowed to Aspenpaw. "It's no big deal. You really don't need to help me."

She shrugged. "It doesn't hurt me to give you a shoulder to lean on. And it _does_ hurt you to not use it, even if it's just a little bit."

Ruffleslash nodded. It made sense. The two walked through the thorn tunnel and into the camp, Ruffleslash earning some amused looks at his thorn covered pelt.

As Ruffleslash sat down in the medicine cats den and Aspenpaw walked away, he couldn't help but look after her. She didn't look back at him. He couldn't stop himself from wishing she had.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw sat next to Shinepaw and Whiskerpaw, watching as Tailstripe picked who would go to the Gathering that night. Screechpaw already knew that she wasn't going and she was okay with it; she didn't really want to go trekking across ShadowClan territory and sliding over a tree bridge just to hear Thornstar bad mouth her and the other clans. She'd rather stay here.

Blazestar was usually the one to organize the patrol for the Gathering, but he had left the job to his deputy. He was still in his den, talking to someone. Screechpaw hadn't seen who.

"So are you guys going to the Gathering tonight?" Screechpaw meowed, turning to her siblings.

Shinepaw shrugged. "I don't know. I think that we're going to be staying. Flamelick has been really tired for the past few nights. I can't figure out why, and he won't tell me. It's probably nothing."

Screechpaw nodded. She had those days where she could barely move because of how tired she was, usually after she went to meet up with Wolfpaw and Spikepaw. But Ruffleslash could usually tell when she needed an easy day of training, so he wouldn't push her too hard then. He was great.

"Shadowpelt and I will probably be going," Whiskerpaw said, shrugging. "I don't know why we wouldn't be going. Not much has been happening over in WhiskerpawClan."

The three of them purred, but they were cut short at a yowl from the front of the camp. Blazestar stood there, tail waving in the breeze.

"The cats chosen by Tailstripe to go to the Gathering are Sweetfang, Wingfeather, Cardinaltail, Pepperheart, Saltytooth, Shadowpelt, and Whiskerpaw. Let's go."

The cats chosen flooded out of the camp, leaving the other warriors to go to their nests or share tongues. Shinepaw and Screechpaw just stayed where they were after saying their good-byes to their brother.

"Wow," Shinepaw mewed. "Small patrol, huh?"

Screechpaw nodded. "I guess they're scared that WindClan will attack again when they're gone. It makes sense. I mean, why risk it, right?"

Shinepaw nodded. "Yeah, you're right." She gave her a small smile. "When did you get so smart?"

Screechpaw grinned. "It's just a gift."

The two sisters laughed, and Screechpaw was just starting to relax when she saw something across the clearing.

Gasping, she shot to her paws and ran across camp. She skidded on her paws and came to a stop next to Ruffleslash.

"What happened?" she asked, wide blue green eyes looking him over. He had a long scratch on his flank that had blood coming out of it in places and his lip was bleeding. His left eye looked like it had been scratched several times, swelled and dark with pooling blood.

Ruffleslash sniffed. "Nothing."

Screechpaw rolled her eyes and sighed. "Okay, _clearly,_ this isn't 'nothing!'" She scanned his pelt, eyes wide with concern. "We need to get you to Wingfeather!"

"No," Ruffleslash said, shaking his head, trying to hide the small wince he had at the movement. "No, Wingfeather had to go to the Gathering. And I'm fine, really."

Screechpaw glared at him slightly through narrowed eyes. "You aren't fine. What even happened!? How did this happen?!"

Ruffleslash tensed up a bit, which made him just flinch again. "It was just the thorns. A few of them got me scratched up. It was nothing too big."

Screechpaw widened her eyes in disbelief as she looked at him again. The scratch on his side was way too long to have been done by a measly thorn, and there was no way that anything other than a cat could have done what had happened to his eye.

She gave him a sideways look, seeing him watching her with…what? Sadness? Guilt? Or something else…no. No.

She shook her head. _Forget about that. But why won't he just trust me?_

 _You didn't tell him about the eye color thing._

 _True. I guess I can't blame him for not telling me this. It's not like I'd tell him everything._

She sighed. "Okay, Ruffleslash. If it was a thorn, then I believe you."

Ruffleslash inwardly collapsed in relief. She had given in, despite her obvious knowledge that he wasn't telling the truth.

He shot her a half smile, bright green eyes staring into hers. She snapped her eyes away. "Well, I'm going to go and sit with Shinepaw—"

"No, you're not."

Screechpaw tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that we're going out to train."

Screechpaw groaned. "Ugh, I don't want to go train again! We already did a battle training session today!"

Ruffleslash shook his head. "No, you don't understand. What I meant was that we're going out to _train."_ He winked on the last word.

Screechpaw still had no idea what he was talking about.

 _You guys aren't going to train, you idiot, you're going to just walk around and have some fun!_

 _Oh!_

Screechpaw noticed Ruffleslash frown slightly at her eye change, but he didn't say anything.

"Okay, Ruffleslash. Let's go."

Saying goodbye to her sister, who looked at her quizzically, Screechpaw followed her mentor out of the camp and into the greens of the forest. She breathed deeply, letting the various smells flood over her scent glands, totally encasing her with the beautiful aromas of her home.

She sighed happily as she looked around. Just past her paws, there was a patch of yellow flowers, their long petals reaching up to greet Screechpaw. She lowered her head to smell them, smiling at their delicate leaves and stalks. Above them, a spider web dangled from a stray tree branch. A spider was perched in the direct middle of it. As Screechpaw stared at it, it gazed back at her, its eight eyes wide and unblinking.

A purr broke her out of her trance. Ruffleslash was standing behind her, laughing.

"What?"

"Have you never been in the forest or something?" he mewed, tail sweeping past his legs gracefully.

"You know I have been." She sat with her head high, blue green eyes glinting proudly. "I just haven't ever really paid attention to the specific details of it."

Ruffleslash nodded. "I've never really paid attention to it, either. But the moon's fading. If we don't hurry, we won't be able to get any 'training' done."

Screechpaw grinned and joined her mentor as he raced off, heading deeper into the woods. The moon shone down onto the ThunderClan territory, creating a dazzling display off dancing shadows on the forest floor. Screechpaw sprinted past them, slightly sad that she couldn't stay for longer to truly admire its beauty.

She slid to a stop next to Ruffleslash. They stood on a hill overlooking the lake, where Screechpaw and Terrorfall had talked not long ago. The sudden recollection made the apprentice curious as to the rest of the she-cat's backstory. But that was something to think about some other time.

"So what're we going to do, Ruffleslash? Battle training or hunting?" Screechpaw looked up at the ginger and black tom, whose face was turned towards the lake, the half turned away from his apprentice hidden on shadow.

"Hmm, let me think…." He meowed, looking up in pretend thought. "How about neither.

Screechpaw smiled. "Okay, what are we going to do, then?"

"Well, what do you _want_ to do?"

Screechpaw frowned. What _did_ she want to do?

 _I don't know, figure it out for yourself, you rabbit brain._

 _Ugh._

"Well, we could just talk for a while, I guess."

Ruffleslash nodded, settling down on the grass, a small smile on his muzzle. "So, how are things for you?"

Screechpaw shrugged, her mood suddenly changing drastically at the question. "I don't know, they could be worse."

Ruffleslash looked at Aspenpaw, seeing her downcast eyes and lowered ears. He knew that things had always been hard for her, and her father's death had only driven her farther into insanity. Though, in all fairness, she hadn't had a fit in a while. She must have been too sad about Smokeleg to have really gone mad.

 _Does that even make sense?_ Ruffleslash thought to himself.

 _Well, I guess. I mean, she'd have to be somewhat conscious about the world around her to have a fit, right?_

 _I don't know. I'm new to this._

 _Me too._

 _Obviously, you're me!_

 _Please, let's not start this again!_

Ruffleslash shook his head to clear his thoughts. Instead, he directed his attention back to the little she-cat sitting next to him.

"Hey, remember what I told you the morning after your first Gathering?" Ruffleslash asked gently.

"What part?"

"The part about how things will get better. Do you remember that?"

Screechpaw sniffed quietly. Of course she remembered. That was the morning Smokeleg had died. It was still vivid in her mind. In fact, that night had happened exactly one moon ago that night.

"Yes," she answered.

"Well," Ruffleslash mewed. "Have things gotten better?"

Screechpaw shrugged again. "I don't know. In the long run, I suppose they have. But I still miss him."

"It's okay to miss him. And I'm sure he's extremely proud of you, Aspenpaw. I know that somewhere in StarClan, he's looking down on you with love and happiness. And no matter what you think, you'll never be able to let him down. Him or me."

Screechpaw looked at her paws. She wanted to believe her mentor, but she just couldn't. The dream she had had several times before discouraged her beliefs that Smokeleg still loved her. They only ever showed him turning away from her in disgust, angry that she had been the cause of his death.

But Screechpaw looked into her mentor's eyes and didn't see even the smallest shred of disbelief or a lie. He really believed what he was saying, that Smokeleg still loved her. And maybe he was right. But even if he wasn't about that, she almost certainly knew that he was about the other part of what he had said: that she could never let _him_ down. He was her mentor and she was his apprentice; that was a bond that couldn't be broken.

At that thought, something in Screechpaw's chest leapt with joy, while, simultaneously, another thing drooped with sadness. Try as she might, Screechpaw couldn't identify exactly what they were. She didn't have the time here, anyways.

"Thanks, Ruffleslash." Screechpaw looked into his eyes and smiled, glowing green orbs returning her friendly gaze.

"Anytime, Aspen," he purred, batting her over the head with his tail to lighten the mood.

Screechpaw narrowed her eyes playfully. "Who are you calling 'Aspen'?"

Ruffleslash narrowed his eyes back at her. "You. What are you going to do about it?"

Screechpaw sat up, then shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I'll have to—"

The silver and black tabby she-cat interrupted herself as she threw herself forward, colliding with her mentor. He yowled in surprise as they went rolling down the hill. They finally broke apart as they reached the line between the sand and water of the lake.

Ruffleslash got to his paws, shaking the sand from his fur. "Oh, you think you can defeat me in battle?" He intentionally lifted his fur, eyes wide with a friendly challenge.

Screechpaw kneaded the ground with her paws. "Oh, I don't I _think_ I can defeat you, I _know_ I can!"

"You'd better have the moves to back up your words, then, cat!"

Ruffleslash jumped forward, head butting Screechpaw in the side before she could react to his speed. She staggered slightly, but lashed out at Ruffleslash with sheathed claws before he could run her to the ground.

He ducked beneath her flung out paw, smiling, and waited just long enough for her to regain her balance before he jumped at her, rolling her over on the sand. He came up on top, staring down at Screechpaw as she struggled to break free of his grip.

Ruffleslash purred as he lowered his head, now nose to nose with his apprentice. "What now, Aspen?"

"This!" Screechpaw pummeled Ruffleslash with an onslaught of kicks to his belly, not stopping until he let out a small grunt and retreated. Jumping to her feet, Screechpaw turned towards her mentor once more.

"Nice move," Ruffleslash meowed. "But you're going to have to do better than that to win against me!"

The two circled each other, always waiting for the other to strike first. The glared at each other playfully from where the slunk, each preparing themselves for what was bound to come at any moment.

Screechpaw finally grew tired of waiting. She threw herself forward, aiming to hit Ruffleslash on the chest with her paws hard, shoving him backwards. But her mentor just sidestepped the moment she reached him and the apprentice went shooting past him, awkwardly skidding to a halt.

From the corner of her eye, she saw him turn to her and begin to swipe a paw at her side, but she dropped to her belly and rolled before he could be given the opportunity. Now on her back, she got her paws beneath her quickly so that Ruffleslash couldn't take advantage of her exposed stomach.

Screechpaw jumped at Ruffleslash again, this time being able to roll him over on the ground. When they stopped, she was able to get on top and pinned down Ruffleslash before he could struggle free of her grip.

Screechpaw purred in delight as she looked down at him. "I won!"

But her easy going expression soon turned alarmed. Ruffleslash wasn't looking at her. Instead, his head was turned away, eyes unfocused, ears down. He was panting loudly, and his green eyes kept flicking side to side, open and closed.

A shot of fear raced through her as Screechpaw let down her guard, loosening her grip on his shoulders and haunches. "Ruffleslash? Are you okay?"

Screechpaw let out a yowl of shock as she was thrown upwards, twisting and turning in midair in an attempt to land on her paws. But she didn't have enough time to prepare and she crashed down to the earth, her legs sprawled around her.

A giant paw held Screechpaw down when she tried to stand up again. Looking up, she stared into the amused gaze of Ruffleslash, who was purring quietly.

Screechpaw scoffed. "Ruffleslash! You tricked me!"

The dark ginger and black tom stood back, letting his apprentice to her paws. He sat quietly while she dusted herself off, swinging his giant plume of a tail up next to him, settling it onto his paws. "Sorry, but that's how you win, Aspen!"

She looked away, ears flicking in annoyance and slight embarrassment. "You scared me. I thought you got hurt."

Ruffleslash blinked his eyes in surprise at Aspenpaw, who avoided his gaze. He hadn't meant to scare her. It was just a battle move.

"I'm sorry," he meowed gently. "I hadn't meant to. I'm fine! See?" He stood on his paws, then pranced around the sand in an exaggeration of pride, tossing his silky fur and shooting her happy, smiling glances.

Screechpaw watched, grinning and relieved. "Okay, you're fine! You wouldn't be looking so proud if you weren't."

Ruffleslash nodded, laughing. "But do you know _why_ I look so proud?"

"No…why?"

Ruffleslash stood nose to nose with Screechpaw, and her heart began to beat faster.

 _Stop it, heart!_

 _Oh, shut up, Screechy!_

 _You shut up!_

Screechpaw chose to ignore her pounding heart as she stared into Ruffleslash's eyes. He stared back, his green eyes suddenly narrowing in victory.

"I'm proud because I beat you!"

Screechpaw's mouth hung open. "What!? That's not—"

"Fair?" Ruffleslash took a step back, shaking his head as he laughed. "I beat you! I might have tricked you, but I still won! What do you have to say to that, Aspen?"

Screechpaw sat where she was. What should she say? Yes, she should have won, and yes, she would have if he hadn't tricked her. But she supposed he had won.

Screechpaw groaned loudly. "Ugh! Good job, I guess."

Ruffleslash purred as he joined her. "I knew I'd eventually beat you at something."

Screechpaw bumped her mentor with her paw playfully. "It was about time that you finally won! What's the score now? 100 to 1?"

Ruffleslash rolled his eyes, smiling at her competitive nature. "Yeah, that's probably close enough."

Screechpaw laughed at that, then looked up at the sky and immediately felt down. The moon had almost reached the horizon, and the sun's rays were beginning to peak over the land. "Do we have to go now?"

Ruffleslash looked at the clouds and his face fell, too. He sighed. "Yeah. We'd better."

The two cats dejectedly padded away from the lake together, side by side. Ruffleslash looked over at Screechpaw. "This was fun."

"Yeah. I wish we could do this every Gathering night. This totally beats any dumb meeting of the clans."

Ruffleslash smiled as they walked on. He had liked it better, too. He was glad that his apprentice had enjoyed their 'training' session.

They fell into a silence as they headed back towards camp, each within their own minds. But though they were two very different cats, their minds were both thinking the exact same thing. And though the words weren't spoken aloud, maybe the silence between them said more than a thousand words ever could.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **4085 words! Boo ya!**

 **Not much to say right now, most of the announcements were above the story. Yeah, I hope u liked the greatly delayed chapter! XD sorry that it took so long to be uploaded. and sorry, the end part was a bit rushed. But I hope it was still good!**

 **Oh yeah, I forgot to say! I am changing the review number that I must reach for each chapter to update from 15 to 20-25 (the exact number depends on the day ;). So yeah. 15 is just way too quickly now XD**

 **ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION!: I HAVE PUT UP A NEW POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT HAS TO DO WITH THE CATS' DEATHS AND WHO SHOULD DIE! DON'T FORGET TO GO AND CHECK IT OUT! THANKS YOU GUYS ARE BAE!**

 **Also, sorry again that I didn't do any RR's for this chapter. Ive been super busy for the past few weeks and today, I just didn't have the time. Thanks for understanding! You guys are the best!**

 **QOTDT1) what's up with Flamelick? What has he been doing that has been making him tired? (I want the wheres, the whos, the whys, etc!)**

 **QOTDT2) around halfway through the chapter, Ruffleslash got hurt by some 'thorns'. Do you believe him? If not, what/who was the one who hurt him?**

 **QOTDT3) what deaths would make the story more interesting? What deaths would you really like to see/ really not want to see?**

 **That's about it…..yeah.**

 **Ok thank you so much bye! I'll (try to) update once I hit 20-25 reviews for this chapter! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I love you all! Byeeeee!**


	30. The Unwelcome Watcher

**Stop the presses. Whisperblaze actually updated in a reasonable time. I know, I'm as shocked as you are! XD**

 **OH READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS! I wanted to say that for QOTDT 1 and 2 from chapter 29, the ones with Flamelick and Ruffleslash, no one got it right. or at least fully right. some people were close for the one with Flamelick, but no one got the one with Ruffleslash. But I wouldn't expect you to XD XD XD so yeah, just saying.**

 **Here u guys go! Ur all bae!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

Screechpaw's eyes remained unblinking as they stared at the mouse that stood, only paw lengths away, among the leaves of an oak tree. It was scurrying through the mulch, hunting for its own food, completely unaware of the predator whose eyes were only for it.

With the speed of a hawk, Screechpaw pounced on the small animal, who let out a squeak of alarm, which was cut short by the snapping sound of its own neck as the hunter killed her prey. Proud, she turned around to hear the critique of her mentor.

The dark ginger and black tom was sitting behind her, crouching so that the mouse couldn't've seen his oddly colored pelt in the morning rays of the forest. He now sat up, nodding approvingly at his apprentice's latest catch.

"Good," he meowed. "I really don't know why you want my input on your mouse hunting skills anymore. We finished that skill during your first moon of apprenticeship."

Screechpaw shrugged. "There's always room for improvement, though, right?"

Ruffleslash rolled his eyes, smiling. "I guess so. Come on, we have to go with the rest of the patrol now."

The two joined the other cats in their group, Cardinaltail, Shimmersoar, and Tailstripe, as they headed towards the WindClan border. Ruffleslash and Screechpaw had run ahead to get a moment to hunt before the actual patrol begun. Since Screechpaw still was unstable as far as WindClan went, she would always catch at least one piece of prey to get her nerves to calm down beforehand.

It was true that she had been doing much better in the past couple of moons. It had been a moon since Screechpaw and Ruffleslash had stayed home from the Gathering and had instead talked and sat by the lake. That meant that the black and silver tabby was now halfway through her apprenticeship, having had already gone through three moons of it.

Ruffleslash had stayed true to his promise that he would help her through her father's death. Since last moon, Screechpaw hadn't had a single madness breakdown. She wasn't exactly "cured" or anything, what with the voices still in her head and all, but things had definitely gotten better. Ruffleslash had also helped her to let go of her father's death. She still felt responsible for it, but just not as heavily. And whenever she needed to talk to anyone, no matter what time of day, she knew that she could count on Ruffleslash to listen to her and pay attention. He was amazing.

But lately, Screechpaw had found herself in a growing conundrum, one that didn't have to do with her state of mind. Instead, it focused on Ruffleslash, just him and not what he did for her. Well, that played a part in it, but that wasn't the main focus.

No, the main focus was what Screechpaw thought of him. He was amazing, yes, and super cool, but that was something else entirely. Screechpaw didn't know how to feel about him. In the past moon, the excitement that she felt every day when she woke up, knowing that she'd get to talk to and hang out with her mentor all day, would increase; it was something that she could count on every morning, that she'd feel ecstatic at being an apprentice.

But she still wasn't exactly sure why. She didn't like him, no. She had convinced herself of this a half-moon ago when she had seen Ruffleslash talking with Skyheart. At the sight, she had felt a pinch of jealousy, but had quickly smothered it with her stubborn head. She wasn't jealous and she had no reason to be.

So why would she get so hyped up about seeing him? Try as she might, Screechpaw couldn't put her paw on it. There were a million different things to like about Ruffleslash, but what was the one that made her happy to see him every day? The possibilities were endless; it was impossible to know the real answer.

Then the answer to that question would have to be postponed to be sought out another day. The only thing that Screechpaw knew for sure was that she was never excited to see him because she liked him. That was certain.

 _Yeah, sure._

Screechpaw sighed. She could convince herself, sure, but doing the same with Poolkit was a whole other issue. The stiff necked voice in her head refused to believe Screechpaw at all when it came to Ruffleslash and what she thought of him. She still thought that she was "madly in love with him." Her words.

But then again, how would Poolkit be able to know what love was? She never even reached the age of a moon! She wouldn't be able to tell the difference between someone that Screechpaw actually liked and someone that she loathed. Well, at least not too efficiently.

However, there was one cat who Screechpaw was okay with Poolkit saying that she liked. And it was because the silver and black tabby actually did like him. Over the past moon especially, the two had grown much closer. Before, Screechpaw had liked him and all, but their relationship had seemed to grow a lot recently.

But she didn't know how he felt about her, so she didn't say a word about any of it. Why risk it, you know? They had had a good thing going, and changing it would only complicate things. Multiple different things.

So that was how it was in her mind: Ruffleslash was an awesome mentor whom she _didn't_ love, but liked as a friend. The other tom was someone whom she was friends with when they were together, but whom she _liked_ from afar. Simple, really.

The patrol reached the border, pulling Screechpaw from within her mind. She looked out over the territory of the enemy clan, a shudder running along her spine as she thought about the times she had spent inside of the scent markings. Some good, but most bad.

The patrol began to make their way down the line of the river that was used as a border between the two clans, stopping here, sniffing there, spraying over here. It was the normal routine for the clan.

Screechpaw sighed as she padded along with the group. She really hated going on the border patrol over by WindClan. Everyone knew it, too. And the deputy, Tailstripe, was pretty good about keeping her away from it, but it wasn't like she could just _never_ go near the moor cats' land. So she went sporadically, always biting her lip and kneading the ground with impatience as they slowly made their way towards the beach that was a moon's journey away.

Ruffleslash looked over at Screechpaw as they walked side by side. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Hey, you can go on ahead and start some hunting if you want."

Screechpaw's ears pricked up at the tom's words. "Really?"

"Yeah. We'll still get this done in plenty of time if you go and get some hunting done, and you can go and catch some freshkill for the elders."

Screechpaw grinned. "Wow, okay, thanks Ruffleslash!"

He purred. "You're welcome!" He mewed to his apprentice, but she was already gone.

Screechpaw raced away from the four cats on her patrol, looking over her shoulder as they grew more distant with each paw step that she took. She took a deep breath, relishing the fresh air that swept through her lungs. She'd rather be doing this any day instead of a stupid WindClan border patrol.

Screechpaw skidded to a stop, panting slightly as she looked around her, trying to find some sort of prey. She was standing next to the river, now much farther down it than the rest of the ThunderClan cats.

She closed her eyes and opened her mouth slightly, letting the different scents bathe her tongue. Her ears snapped open and her ears pressed flat against her head at the recognition of a single stench, but the apprentice brushed it off. She was here to hunt, not worry.

Screechpaw's sharp blue green eyes and reliable nose almost immediately found a small creature to catch. It was a shrew, hobbling along in the grasses as it made its way towards the river.

Screechpaw smiled. _Easy prey._

 _It's not the only thing being watched._

Poolkit's input sent a shiver through Screechpaw. Looking around awkward, she tried to see anyone that could have possibly been staring at her. No one.

Screechpaw swallowed, feeling uneasy despite her better judgement. But she told herself that she was being ridiculous and turned back to the shrew.

Walking lightly, Screechpaw stalked the shrew through the tall grasses that led up to the river. One paw in front of the other, one paw in front of the other: that was all that Screechpaw let herself focus on. Not Poolkit or her ominous words.

Screechpaw was only a tail length away when she leapt. She flew forward, her great, soaring jump catapulting her high enough to see over the grasses, over the river, and into WindClan territory. She could now clearly see the enemy territory and the great tabby cat that sat by the river, watching her every move.

Letting out a yowl of fear and surprise, Screechpaw forgot all about the little shrew that she had been hunting, which scurried away at her loud call. The apprentice landed on the ground where the prey had been only moments before, sitting by the riverside. Fur bristling and teeth bared, Screechpaw stared across the river into the amused eyes of her enemy, the enemy whose scent she had just detected and ignored.

"Well, Screechy!" Thornstar growled, his voice full of mocking laughter at her actions. "It's so good to see you again!"

"What do you want?" Screechpaw snarled, her unsheathed claws ripping into the dirt and grass below her paws. Her current persona was nothing but an act; in reality, she was deathly afraid.

Thornstar's eyes widened as if hurt and he placed a giant paw over his chest. "Why so angry, Screechkitty? What did I ever do to you?"

Screechpaw growled even more. "What did you do? You know what you did! And you're a fool to think I'd say it."

Thornstar watched her through narrowed amber eyes, letting out a deep, grotesque purr when she was done. "Oh, I know. I haven't forgotten. Though I was thinking that you might not remember, you know, because of your pathetic intelligence."

Screechpaw snarled again, pulling back her lip to show her sharp teeth. "Why are you here, Thornstar? You can't possibly have the time on your paws to come all the way out here just to insult me."

Thornstar's eyes narrowed. "You know nothing about my responsibilities in my clan." Then his suddenly hostile mood changed back, and he purred. "Though you're right. I wouldn't come all the way out here just to mock you. That's easy enough to do considering, well, you know."

Screechpaw frowned, the fur along her back spiking up even more. "What?"

Thornstar's eyes actually carried sincere shock when they lit up and connected with Screechpaw's. "You don't know?"

"Obviously not."

Thornstar smiled, ears flicking in what had to be delight at being able to hold another thing over the apprentice's head. "Well, then, this should be fun, shouldn't it?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

Thornstar flicked his tail seemingly nonchalantly. "Oh, nothing. Just a little someone I know that you happen to know too."

Thornstar carried the conversation on before Screechpaw could say a word. "I truly do hope things in ThunderClan have been okay. How have you been getting along since your father's death? I had _never_ predicted that he would die in that battle, moons ago." The dark brown tabby tom pouted, looking at Screechpaw with mock sad eyes.

That sent Screechpaw over the line. "Liar! You planned his death! You told your clan to hunt him down and kill him! You said it before the battle, you announced it to everyone! You said to 'not stop until he's dead!' That was Smokeleg! That was my father!"

Screechpaw was on the edge of the river now, fur fluffed out so that she looked twice her size. She glared across the water, blue green eyes alit, on fire with the hatred that she was currently directing towards the WindClan leader.

And yet through all of this, the tom hardly blinked. He just watched her, easy going, the expression on his face identical to one that would be on someone's face who was listening to the repetitive ramblings of a mentor. He just stared at her, eyes half closed in boredom.

He sighed. "You done yet, insaney?"

Screechpaw just narrowed her eyes at him in disgust.

Thornstar nodded. "Good. Now while you stand over there yapping your crazy little head off, I've got to go and run a clan. I bid you good day. Or rather, _bad_ day."

He stood up to leave, then tossed a few more words over his shoulder before he disappeared into the grasses. "Oh, and I think you'd better go and check on the rest of your patrol. I think that they've had their paws full for a while now."

Screechpaw blinked in surprise, then raced away as she realized what he meant. Pounding over the ground, she tried to ignore everything that the tom had said to her, especially the thing about her father and their shared "friend." What was that about, anyways?

What Thornstar had said was true: the four other cats on the border patrol really did have their paws full. They were battling a WindClan patrol, four on four. As she watched, Screechpaw noticed that ThunderClan was winning, despite the clear wounds that they all had. Tailstripe was fighting the WindClan deputy, Ropetail, while Cardinaltail and Shimmersoar battled side by side, taking on Burnpelt and Windytalon.

Over by the forest line, Ruffleslash was taking on—and Screechpaw blinked in surprise at the sight of him—Wolfpaw. The latter was doing his best, but he had only been through three moons as an apprentice, so he was not nearly as experienced as his opponent.

When he saw Screechpaw watching him fight her mentor, the brown and grey tom nodded her way slightly, then jumped away from Ruffleslash, bounding towards the river. As he passed her, he gave her a small smile, one that said "sorry, Thornstar made me."

Wolfpaw's dash for his territory seemed like a sign to the others that it was time to leave. The three other cats abandoned their opponents, who all yowled in victory. They watched, feeling victorious as the moor cats ran away.

Screechpaw raced up to her mentor as soon as the WindClan cats were gone. "I'm so sorry!" she frantically apologized. "I didn't know there was a fight, I swear on StarClan that I would've come if I did!"

Ruffleslash held up his tail, telling her to stop talking. "It's fine, Aspenpaw. We still won! And _I_ told you that it was okay for you to leave, so it's my fault that you weren't here."

Screechpaw nodded. "I am sorry, though."

"I know. But it's okay."

The patrol of five limped away from the border, heading towards the camp. Ruffleslash leaned against his apprentice, actually needing her help this time, not like in the thorn bush incident.

When they reached the ThunderClan camp, the four that had been in the battle headed towards the medicine den, leaving Screechpaw by herself in the deserted clearing.

 _What now?_

 _Well, someone is going to be walking through the thorn tunnel in…three, two, one…._

Poolkit was right. Terrorfall padded into the camp alone carrying a shrew and two pigeons, seeming to be dragging her paws. She had attended the Gathering last night, so of course she was tired. Screechpaw slumped in relief; maybe the kind warrior would be willing to talk to her about Thornstar.

"Terrorfall!" Screechpaw mewed, running over to the grey and black she-cat, who turned, pricking her ears at the sound of her name. "Terrorfall, I need to talk to you!'

The warrior let out a yawn, smacking her lips. "Sure, kid, but can it wait until after I take a nap?"

Screechpaw blinked. "No, it's really quick! Listen, I ran into Thornstar by the border and he started talking about someone who we both knew, someone who was spying on me for him or something. I don't know what to do, so do you—"

Terrorfall held up a paw, cutting her short. After another yawn, she meowed, "Look, I'm sorry, but are you sure you weren't just imagining it or something? Sleep on it, okay? Then come and talk to me." With that, Terrorfall padded towards the warriors den, mumbling to herself: "Sleep on it…that's something I'd like to do right now."

Screechpaw sighed. She supposed that this was something that she'd have to figure out on her own. Sitting by the freshkill pile, she pulled out a squirrel and began to think about everything that Thornstar had said, trying to make sense of any of it.

It was useless. None of it was clear enough to comprehend. Try as she might, Screechpaw just couldn't make sense of _any_ of what Thornstar had said. Well, anything, excluding one thing.

 _Someone he knows that I happen to know too…well, that could only be one of two cats….but neither of them would do that to me, would they?_

"Aspenpaw!" Ruffleslash called to her as he made his way from the medicine cat den to the freshkill pile. "Hey, we're taking the rest of the day off. I got scratched up pretty badly, so I'm out until tomorrow. Unless you really want to do some training…?"

Screechpaw shook her head. "No, I'm fine with whatever. Actually, I think I'll go to sleep early, catch up on some rest." She looked at the half eaten squirrel in her paws. "You want to finish this?"

Ruffleslash smiled. "Sure, why not?"

Screechpaw handed him her squirrel as she stood up, leaving him to eat as she padded towards the apprentices den. Maybe Terrorfall was right; maybe she just needed to sleep on it.

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **3037 words. Not bad.**

 **You guys, I am proud of me. I actually updated in a reasonable time! I actually was going to update later even though I got more than 20 reviews. My logic was that 5 of the reviews didn't count, one of them being mine and 4 of them being repeated reviews from a certain reviewer (coughcoughMOSSBERRYcoughcough) XD XD XD no hard feelings, though, its all good. ;)**

 **I forgot to say something about last chapter: there was a HUGE hint about something in particular in one of the lines that Poolkit said. It was extremely vague and I wouldn't expect anyone to get it, but it was still there. I'll give you a hint: its something that, if you think about it, is EXTREMELY out of the ordinary to be said. There. I'll leave it at that. Trust me, if you knew what I meant, then it would make sense.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT HAS TO DO WITH THE CATS' DEATHS!**

 **QOTDT1) who is the cat that Screechpaw "actually" likes?**

 **QOTDT2) who is the cat that Thornstar was talking about, the someone who they both knew?**

 **QOTDT3) so far in the story, who is your favorite and least favorite character/characters? IT CAN BE ANYONE! ;)**

 **Ok thank you! You guys are amazing! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! In the words of that one dude from pirates of the Caribbean, "Until we meet again, captain jack blah blah blah cookie blah…" you know what I mean. XD**

 **OK byeeeee guys! I'll (try) to update aging when I get 20-25 reviews! cant wait to see what u guys thought of this chapter! Love you all!**


	31. Puzzling Questions

**AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH! FORGIVE ME!**

 **I'm sorry u guys. I know that took forever. I deserve to be shot.**

 **But if it helps, you guys, I have also written the next chapter, chapter 32, so as soon as you guys get me to 20 or 25 reviews for this chapter, I will update this story! And let me just say that you guys are going to LOVE next chapter! Both ScreechxWolf and ScreechxRuffle shippers. EEEEEE I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE YOUR GUYS' REACTIONS! XD XD XD XD XD trust me, you DO NOT want to miss it!**

 **I want to give a HUGE shoutout to my fam, WildChild13! SHE'S BACK! I MISSED U, BAE! IM SO GLAD THAT YOU'RE BACK!**

 **Ok, a few things before I get to the RR's and the chapter. For one, sorry that it took so long to post. Im updating about a week after u guys got me the 25 reviews, so yeah, im bad. But thanks for the reviews, u guys are awesome!**

 **And secondly, please u guys, I really don't want to get any more reviews about how sporadically I update. I know that I haven't been the fastest so far this year but its been a busy year for me. so please, have a heart and don't tell me to update more or post the entire story or anything like that. Because I wont. Also, a huge part of my updating is that I post a chapter once u guys review enough for me. that way I can get feedback about a chapter and use it to write better in the next one. So yeah. Please, don't take this offensively, I still love every single one of u! u r all amazing!**

 **Ok, here you go my fam!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

"Come _on,_ Aspenpaw!"

Screechpaw growled in anger as she got to her unsteady paws, shaking sand from her bristling pelt. Even with her back to him, she could tell that her mentor was getting more and more aggravated with every passing minute. And the same could be said for herself.

Turning around, she faced Ruffleslash, who was pacing across the training hollow, trying to keep his patience, but losing the two sided battle. He looked at her, frowning slightly.

"What's up with you today?" he meowed, shaking his head. "It would be one thing if this was a difficult move, but it's really not! And you're a super fast leaner! Well, usually…."

Screechpaw snarled quietly to herself. She knew that she shouldn't be mad at Ruffleslash; he was right, after all. She had been off her game for the past few days, but she still couldn't help but blame him for his attitude towards her so far that day.

"Again," the tom commanded from where he stood, tail lashing.

Screechpaw took a deep breath, steadying herself for what she was going to attempt to do.

 _Okay, just do the move. You can do it. You're Screechpaw! Some dumb move—what is it, the duck and twist or something?—isn't going to stop you from being a master at battle moves!_

Taking one last calming breath, Screechpaw began the move. With the speed of an eagle, she ducked beneath her invisible opponent, using the weight of her head to her advantage, dipping down near the ground.

 _Good,_ she thought to herself. _Good, keep going!_

Screechpaw moved her shoulders around, twisting them so that the rest of her body would follow. She turned, building confidence as she performed the move, which was almost complete now.

 _It's the insane that run the world._

The random thought that had suddenly popped up into Screechpaw's mind surprised her into incompetence. Still spinning, her legs flailed out beneath her at her loss of focus. Letting out a small grunt, the black and silver tabby apprentice fell to the ground, setting off another explosion of white sand, which danced around her as it began its decent back towards the earth.

As it settled once again, like it had so many times before on that day alone, Screechpaw peered through the dusty air to see the form of Ruffleslash, ears low and eyes narrowed.

"Seriously?!" he exclaimed, hackles beginning to rise slowly. "That's at least the tenth time that you've messed this move up! Why are you so distracted today?"

Not giving her a chance to say anything, he jumped out of the hollow, beckoning for her to follow with a twitch of his tail. "Whatever. We'll try the move again some other day, maybe when you actually _want_ to learn how to fight."

 _I_ do _want to learn this move today!_ Screechpaw thought to herself angrily as she padded after her mentor, his haunches a good three foxlengths in front of her. _But I can't concentrate!_

 _Why not, Screechy?_ Poolkit growled in her head.

 _Because I keep thinking of what Thornstar said. That there's someone that he knows that I know, too. That could only be Wolfpaw or Spikepaw, right?_

 _It seems that way. Who else could he be talking about?_

 _I don't know. But Wolfpaw and Spikepaw would never do anything bad to me! They would never spy on me or something like that for Thornstar!_

 _Maybe you don't know everything about them, Screechkitty._

 _Still…I don't believe that it's one of them. Do you know who it is?_

 _Yes._

 _WHAT?! You do?! Tell me who it is!_

 _No._

 _Why not?_

 _Because I don't like you, cat._

 _Okay, fine. But will you at least tell me if it's Wolfpaw or Spikepaw?_

 _No._

 _Is it one of them?_

 _I'm not saying._

 _Ugh. You stink._

 _You do too. You smell like a badger with bad breath._

 _You know, I really love our little chats, Poolkit._

 _I don't. And don't call me Poolkit!_

 _You're a mystery,_ Poolkit _!_

 _Ugh!_

Screechpaw rolled her eyes as she followed her mentor's hindquarters through the thorn tunnel, emerging into the ThunderClan camp. Cats littered the clearing, taking advantage of the lazy newleaf afternoon: Wonderstrength sat next to Flamelick, sharing tongues after eating a filling meal of a shrew; Glacierfire dozed in a patch of sunlight, lying on her back and twitching in her sleep; Blazestar sat next to his mate, both of them staring off into the distance sadly, while their son tried to get their attention. It was fruitless.

Ruffleslash left Screechpaw with an irritated flick of his tail, going to sit next to his siblings. They greeted him enthusiastically, then frowned in confusion as he sat down grumpily. Though Screechpaw couldn't hear exactly what her mentor said, she was certain that it related to her when Wonderstrength and Flamelick's gazes snapped over to her, then back towards their shared brother's.

Screechpaw sighed, padding over to the freshkill pile and taking a squirrel. She settled down next to the medicine cat den, then decided against it and went into the apprentices den instead. She curled up in her nest, flicking her tail at a stray fleck of moss that was caught in her fur. Screechpaw ate her squirrel quietly, not bothering to dispose of the remains after she'd finished.

The black and silver tabby apprentice lay in her nest, her head rested on her silver paws, deep in thought. Poolkit knew the cat who Thornstar had been talking about. As big as this was to Screechpaw, she was less focused on the _who,_ but more of the _why._ Why would someone want to hurt her? And if Thornstar wanted to get to her, then why didn't he just do it himself?

Screechpaw sighed again. Her life was just one confusing and angst filled event after another.

 _I have to figure this out, but how?_

 _I don't know. Don't ask me._

 _I_ wasn't _asking you._

 _Okay._

 _Oh, I know! I'll talk to Wolfpaw! He's got to know, right?_

 _I don't know._

 _Yeah, that's what I'll do. He'll help me, I_ know _he will!_

 _Whatever you say, Screechidiot._

She pushed herself out of the apprentices den when she heard her mentor call for her from across the clearing. She trudged across the clearing, ears low. She wasn't looking forward to what he'd say to her. Probably something about how disappointing she was.

 _Can I really blame him?_

 _No. No, you can't._

But he wasn't rude or impatient. He just smiled at her, green eyes alit with mischief and excitement like they always were. "Hey, you ready to go and get some training done? I'm sorry about how hard I was on you, I can't get mad at you for having an off-day every once in a while. Heck, this is the first day you've _ever_ been slightly off! That's a pretty good record if you ask me!" He grinned at her and winked, immediately making her feel better after her confusion at his dramatically changed mood.

Screechpaw purred. "It's okay. I did kind of deserve it."

Ruffleslash widened his eyes, giving her a half smile. "Oh come one, you know you didn't. You're just saying that."

"So what if I am?"

Ruffleslash shrugged. "Well, it's not that often that the _master_ of all battle moves actually admits that she did something wrong," he meowed, the words dripping with a mixture of sarcasm and good natured humor.

Screechpaw rolled her eyes, hitting the dark ginger and black tom with her tail. "You got me there, Ruffles!"

He looked down into her eyes, his green ones wide and bright as ever. "Ruffles? Did you seriously just call me Ruffles?"

"Yeah I did. You give me a nickname, I give you a nickname."

"I wouldn't exactly call 'Aspenpaw' a nickname—"

"Whatever!" Screechpaw purred, rolling her eyes again. "Let's just go and do some training!"

Ruffleslash sighed, smiling as he padded towards the thorn tunnel obediently, Screechpaw following him. She noticed that the mysterious scars from days before had almost entirely healed, but another thing caught her eyes. Barely noticeable, only viewable if peered at intently, there were several other scratches added to the collection. And they looked fresh, as if they had been made in the past day or two.

 _I wonder how that happened…._ Screechpaw thought to herself. _Ruffleslash must have had to groom himself pretty well to be able to cover these things up._

When they made it out of the thorn tunnel, Ruffleslash noticed his apprentice looking at his pelt, obviously having had seen the camouflaged scars. Awkwardly, he went to stand next to Screechpaw so that she couldn't see his pelt without turning around. This only made Screechpaw more curious about the whole event.

 _Why won't he let me see? Why doesn't he tell me what happened? Obviously a thorn bush didn't do this to him twice!_

Screechpaw shoved the thoughts to the back of her mind as she walked further into the forest, her mentor by her side. She'd think about that later. Right now, she had to focus on her training.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw snuck past the yawning Saltytooth, ducking through the dirtplace tunnel and emerging out into the moonlit forest. Her black and silver tabby pelt shone white under the creamy light that penetrated through the darkness of the night.

Keeping low, the apprentice bounded through the underbrush, swerving around any bushes or trees that blocked her path. She looked up as she ran, smiling as she saw the clouds appearing and disappearing through the many branches of the woods. As much as she loved running, she knew that ThunderClan really was the only place that she could call home.

Skidding to a halt next to the WindClan border—and muffling the shiver of frightening memories that crawled up her spine like it always did whenever she scented her moor neighbors—Screechpaw looked over the river and into the territory of the enemy clan. She sat down, wrapping her tail around her paws. She would wait if she had to.

Screechpaw bounced on her paws slightly as she waited, excited to see Wolfpaw. It had become a regular occasion for the tom to come alone now, just the two of them hanging out and talking. Not that Spikepaw never came; he would show up sometimes, whenever his brother told him that he was meeting Screechpaw. But it was only then. Wolfpaw was clever, knowing the exact number of times to tell Spikepaw to come so that he didn't get suspicious of his brother.

So the ThunderClan apprentice waited, excited to see her friend but also nervous about asking him about what Thornstar had said. Would he think she was paranoid about the leader of the moor clan? Would he not take her seriously like Terrorfall had?

She didn't have enough time to think about the questions. Across the border, a specific path of grasses swayed and thrashed as a cat bounded through them, his excitement overcoming the sense that he should have had to pad more stealthily. It was night, after all. He shouldn't have been outside of his den.

Screechpaw stood, smiling as the cat leaped through the final patch of grass, coming to rest on the small clearing next to the river. He peered across the border, grinning when he saw his friend on the other side of the water. But while he smiled, Screechpaw's ears flattened and her heart fell.

It was Spikepaw.

"Screechpaw!" he meowed, tail and ears high. "Screechpaw, hi!"

"Hey, Spikepaw!" she greeted, shaking herself out of her disappointment. She didn't dislike Spikepaw! What was the matter with her? "What's up?"

The brown and golden tom shrugged. "Not much. Normal stuff in WindClan I guess."

"Yeah, ThunderClan hasn't been much different either." Screechpaw felt an awkward heat on her pelt, though she wasn't quite sure _why_ it was awkward. "Look, Spikepaw, I have a few questions. A few days ago, I saw Thornstar while on a patrol and he started talking to me about some… _weird_ things." She couldn't think of any other word to call it but weird. "He said that there was somebody that the both of us knew, someone that was tormenting and plotting against me for him. I can't figure out who or why. Do you have any idea?"

Spikepaw looked somewhat disappointed at the question, but he answered it the best he could anyways. "Well, the only cats whom I can think of that you and him know are me and Wolfpaw…but we would never hurt you! You know that, don't you?" He looked at her with big, pleading eyes.

"Yeah, that's what I thought!" Screechpaw let out a silent breath of relief. So Thornstar _wasn't_ talking about Spikepaw or Wolfpaw. "You guys are my friends. I knew you would never help him hurt me."

Spikepaw nodded, shuffling his paws quietly, seeming almost embarrassed. He looked up at her, hoping that the questions about WindClan were over. "So, how are you?"

Screechpaw answered quickly, having her own questions to ask. "Um, good. Sorry, I still have a few questions." Spikepaw's ears drooped as Screechpaw continued. "Is there anybody else that you could think of who both Thornstar and I know?"

Spikepaw shook his head.

"Okay…." Screechpaw scraped her brain, trying to recall all of the questions that she had planned to ask. She had to eliminate about half of them because she was talking to Spikepaw instead of Wolfpaw. "Who in WindClan do you think Thornstar talks to the most?"

"I don't know," Spikepaw muttered quietly, slight anger in his voice. "Ropetail and Nettlesting I guess."

Screechpaw thought about that for a second. She supposed that she did know Nettlesting, but she hadn't talked to him since before her father's death, so there was no way for him to get to her. He wasn't a possibility.

"Alright, do you think you could maybe look out for anyone in your clan who he could have possibly been talking about?"

That was when Spikepaw exploded. He leaped to his paws, anger bright in his eyes, along with a pinch of hurt. "No, I won't!"

The forest apprentice blinked in surprise as he went on. "I'll answer your dumb questions and I'll be your friend, Screechpaw, but I'm _not_ going to spy on my clanmates for you!"

Screechpaw opened her mouth to speak, but the WindClan tom cut her off. "And don't say that you're not asking me to spy on them, because you are!" He lashed his tail, taking a deep, calming breath. "Look, I have to go. Bye, Screechpaw."

With one last agitated flick of his ears, Spikepaw spun around and dove into the long grasses of his territory, leaving Screechpaw to stare after him, confused and hurt.

 _What was that about?_

Screechpaw sighed, standing and padding away from the river. She'd have to talk to Wolfpaw about Thornstar the next time she saw him. Spikepaw just didn't understand.

 _Well,_ she thought to herself, _maybe he does. Maybe he's just having an off-day._

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2516 words! I'm back, baby!**

 **OK IF U DON'T NORMALLY REVIEW, PLEASE REVIEW ON QOTDT3 AND QOTDT4 TODAY! IT'S SUPER IMPORTANT!...well, they help me see what u guys are interested in!**

 **Again, sorry for taking so long. Ive had a pretty stressful few weeks XD but u guys probably understand, don't you? Because u guys are the best!**

 **Also, I wanted to repeat what I said above: please, no reviews hating against my sparse updating. I DO have a life outside of this story, as sad and shocking as it is to say XD so yeah, just saying. Please no killing me because of my terrible updating skills. ;)**

 **Ok, just wanted to remind u guys again, in case some of you guys didn't see before, that avalanchestar's name has been changed to Palestar. Just wanted to remind u! ;)**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT'S ABOUT WHO SHOULD DIE!**

 **Ok, now for 5 QOTDT's. u don't have to reply to all of them if u don't want to! ;)**

 **QOTDT1) (I know im repeating this one, but whatever) what has been happening to Ruffleslash? Who/what has been injuring him and why?**

 **QOTDT2) why was Spikepaw upset at the end of the chapter? IT WASN'T BECAUSE OF SCREECHPAW ASKING HIM TO SPY, IT WAS SOMETHING ELSE, EVEN THOUGH HE SAYS THAT'S WHY! HE JUST HAPPENED TO LOSE IT WHEN SHE ASKED THAT QUESTION! SO NO, IT WASN'T BECAUSE OF THAT QUESTION!**

 **QOTDT3) who/what would u like to see in any sequel(s)? who would it be based around and what mainly would happen? (keep in mind, this story is still NO WHERE near finished, there's a good 90 or so chapters that still need to be posted, but im curious about what you guys would like to see! so yeah) YOU CAN HAVE SEVERAL IDEAS FOR A SEQUEL, TELL ME ANY IDEAS YOU HAVE!**

 **QOTDT4) if I were to write any one-shots that could be posted during the time that this story is written, aka not after it is finished but while it's still being updated, who/what would u like one to be written about?**

 **QOTDT5) how am I doing on this story? Out of 10, how many stars would u rate it? BE HONEST! I DON'T MIND! XD**

 **Ok, so that's about it! Thanks for reading, u guys are the best! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I'll (try) to update again once this chapter gets 25 reviews! If u want a chapter quickly, then be sure to review!**

 **K byeeeee fam!**


	32. The Lakeside View

**So before I even start talking about anything else, I want to say this: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE SURE TO ANSWER QOTDT3 TODAY! IF U DO OR DON'T NORMALLY REVIEW, I AM BEGGING U TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION! PLEASE!**

 **Ok, now that that's over…**

 **OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG THANK U GUYS SO MUCH! From last chapter, I went from 430 reviews to 484! EEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

 **U guys are seriously the best!**

 **HUGE SHOUTOUT TO juli.r AND juniperbranch FOR REVIEWNG A BUNCH OF CHAPTERS! U GUYS ARE AWESOME!**

 **In all honesty, I was debating about even posting this chapter today because I technically didn't get the 25 reviews that I wanted for chapter 31, but then I slapped myself and said "Dang it Whisperblaze u idiot, they gave you twice as many as you wanted, even if they weren't all for chapter 31!" XD**

 **So now I'm here. XD**

 **So…..yeah. I hope u like the new chap, peeps! IT IS SOOOOOOOO CUTE! I think u guys are really going to like this chapter. It has both Wolfpaw and Ruffleslash cuteness in it. GET EXCITED!**

 **One last thing-will u guys be sure to read the author's note thing at the end of this chapter? It's kind of important-ish XD**

 **K here it is u guys! enjoy!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

The silver and tabby apprentice's paws landed on the island's moist soil, the owner of the paws sighing in relief as soon as she was on solid ground yet again. But she relaxed too soon; she let out a yowl of surprise when a cat bundled her over, coming up on top and purring down into her face.

"Shinepaw!" Screechpaw mewed at her sister, barely able to hold back a purr. "Get off of me, you big lump of fuzz!"

Shinepaw laughed, narrowing her eyes and giving Screechpaw a pathetic attempt at an evil snarl. "Only if you make me!"

"Oh, I don't have to make you!" Screechpaw laughed as her sister was lifted off of her, Ruffleslash having dragged the silver she-cat away, doing so with a twinkle in his eyes. Shinepaw squirmed fruitlessly, her attempts doing nothing but amuse her sister even more.

"Thanks, Ruffleslash!" Screechpaw said, getting to her paws and dusting herself off with a few waves of her tail.

The dark ginger and black tom winked at her. "Anytime, Aspen!" Then he left the two apprentices, going to walk with his own sister, Wonderstrength.

Shinepaw gave a small pout as he walked away. "Ugh, whatever, Screechpaw. You know you couldn't've gotten me off if your mate hadn't come to your rescue!"

Screechpaw rolled her eyes, feeling her pelt heat up slightly. "He is _not_ my mate."

"Mhmm, sure!" Shinepaw purred. "That's why you guys have nicknames and seem to be closer than a normal apprentice and their mentor."

"We're just friends! You're friends with Flamelick, aren't you? That doesn't mean that you like him!"

Shinepaw seemed to freeze slightly as they walked through the trees of the Gathering island. "Well, I guess you're right, but still…where is Flamelick, anyways?"

The two sisters peered over the heads of the cats in front of them, trying to look for the bright ginger pelt that belonged to Shinepaw's mentor. They spotted him near the front, hurriedly rushing towards where the RiverClan section of the clearing would be. Screechpaw wondered why he wanted to go there, but she muffled the thought and shrugged it away. Why should she care? Flamelick seemed to have a lot of friends from the other clans, like Lightningpelt and Falconwing from ShadowClan; he probably had a lot of greetings that he had to say during a Gathering.

As Screechpaw finally made her way to the large clearing in the center of the island, she couldn't help but gaping in astonishment at the large tree. Yes, she _was_ now four moons into her apprenticeship, and this _was_ her third Gathering, but the shock of the gargantuous tree never failed to grip her.

Shaking herself out of her trance, she followed her sister towards where the ThunderClan cats were sitting, but stopped when Shinepaw's tail blocked her path.

"Wait," the silver she-cat meowed. "Why don't we sit with another clan today?"

"Okay, which one?"

The two cats looked around, taking in their surroundings. Which of the clans looked the friendliest?

 _Well, WindClan is out for sure, though I would like to see Wolfpaw again._ It had been about a half moon since she had last seen him. There, she had told him all about what had happened with his brother when they had talked before, and Wolfpaw had apologized on behalf of him. Though her meeting with Spikepaw had happened a little less than a moon ago, she was still confused as to why he had acted in the way that he did.

 _Aww, what do you have against WindClan? What did they ever do to you?_

Great. Poolkit was back.

 _You know what they did to me._

 _Do I?_

 _Yes!_

 _Really?_

 _Yes!_

 _Okay, if you say so._

 _Whatever, the point is that I am_ not _sitting with them…what about ShadowClan…no, they're always hostile, even if they aren't currently the_ most _hostile. Oh, RiverClan! I haven't even talked to anyone from their clan yet!_

 _No, don't go to RiverClan!_

 _What? Why not?_

 _Because they, uh, smell bad!_

 _Well that's a stupid excuse._

 _Trust me, it's a valid one. They reek!_

 _Okay, that's just mean!_

 _But it's true._

 _Besides, what's up with you and RiverClan? At my first Gathering, you didn't want me to even look at them!_

 _I just don't like them._

 _Why?_

 _Because._

 _That's not a reason._

 _Just…DON'T go and sit with them!_

 _But—_

"Your eyes look really cool when they change like that!" Shinepaw mewed loudly, interrupting the raging argument taking place in Screechpaw's head. "Why do they do that?"

Screechpaw blinked, trying to block out Poolkit's voice in her head. "Uh, I don't know. They just do."

"Well, it's awesome! I wish I had eyes like that!"

That last sentence made something click in Screechpaw's mind. Something that didn't seem to add up.

 _Hey Poolkit, weren't your—_

"The Gathering is starting!" The loud call from the tree in the center of the clearing silenced Screechpaw's thought.

"Dang it," Shinepaw snarled. "I guess we'll have to sit with our own clan again."

Screechpaw followed her sister as they went and sat next to Ruffleslash and Wonderstrength. A small purr sounded in her head as she turned her attention to the clan leaders.

 _I win!_

 _Shut up, Poolkit!_

Blazestar was the first to talk. "ThunderClan has been flourishing these greenleaf moons. With a small amount of battles with any other clan, we've had lots of time to grow stronger. Our apprentices are learning quickly and our warriors are continuing their constant improvement of battle moves. We will be ready for any and all ambushes on us and we will remain victorious." He ended his announcements with a glare at Thornstar before sitting down, his clan yowling their support.

Moonstar went next. "ShadowClan have been doing well, too, during the past moon. We have four new warriors, Appleheart, Pinefur, Blizzardtail, and Scratchfoot." ShadowClan, ThunderClan, and RiverClan called the new warriors' names. WindClan just sat and watched. "Darkclaw has moved into the nursery and is expecting Sharpfang's kits. We have no other news."

She sat down, looking towards Palestar so that the silver she-cat could talk. The RiverClan leader stood up, trying to conceal how shaky her legs were and how tired she obviously was. "RiverClan has been doing well, considering how often we have been attacked for the past few moons." She shot Thornstar a nasty look before continuing. "Through all of this, though, we have been able to carry on as strong as ever. Our warriors and apprentices have been training nonstop so that we may remain the powerful clan that we are. RiverClan has prevailed and will continue to do so!" Palestar sat down as her clan shouted and growled their agreement.

Thornstar had stood up before Palestar even finished. "WindClan is the strongest of all the clans as usual. We have warriors that could destroy any of yours, apprentices who train harder than any forest or river cat, kits who are destined for more greatness than yours, a medicine cat more skilled than you are, elders who have accomplished more than yours ever will, and a leader more strong and powerful than you could ever hope to be. Need I say more?"

By the end of the dark tabby's speech, the entire clearing were on their paws, hissing and spitting up at Thornstar. All except for WindClan, who were hissing and spitting at the other clans for going against what their leader had said. It was chaos: cats were bristling, hollering insults and shrieked outrages at each other and the moor clan's leader.

Thornstar looked down at the clearing, a look of mock surprise plastered on his face. "Why are you all so mad? I only spoke the truth!"

The cats on the ground only got angrier because of that. Some attacked others, totally and completely ignoring the truce, while others just shot daggers with their eyes at Thornstar from where they stood, quietly snarling at the tom. Cats seemed to be lining up against each other, sheathing and unsheathing their claws.

In the giant tree that was overlooking the chaos, two of the leaders were snarling at Thornstar while one just sat back, unsure of how to handle this situation. She refused to partake in any of this senseless rage. Her clan had had a rough few moons because of WindClan and it had all been for no reason at all. She looked around her, desperate to put an end to the madness, but it seemed to have no end in sight.

Back on the ground, Screechpaw balanced on her hind legs, stretching up as far as she could, trying to find someone she knew. In the turmoil of the event, she had lost her sister, so she was now alone in the insanity of the Gathering.

Looking over the writhing mass of cats, she spotted Wolfpaw watching her. The gray and brown tabby widened his eyes once he saw that Screechpaw had seen him and jerked his head towards the edge of the trees. Screechpaw got the message, dropping down onto all fours again and making her way towards the bushes. Several times, she had to duck under a flailing limb or come to an abrupt halt before she would run straight into a pair of fighting cats.

After moons of careful travel, she finally made her way to her destination. Pushing under a bush, she came face to face with Wolfpaw. He smiled at her, blue eyes soft and bright.

"Hey," he said, silver ears twitching slightly.

Screechpaw purred at the simplicity of the word and how it seemed to calm her down. "Hey."

"It's crazy out there," Wolfpaw meowed, looking over Screechpaw's head to see the crowd of cats.

"Yeah. I'd think that the leaders would calm everyone down, but it seems that everyone but Palestar wants it to be this way." The silver she-cat was just watching the cats around her, confusion showing in her eyes. Screechpaw felt bad for her.

"Hey, you want to get out of here?" Wolfpaw asked, mischief glinting in his eyes. Screechpaw grinned again and nodded.

Without a word, Wolfpaw pulled Screechpaw after him as he ducked under the bush and headed deeper into the woods, away from both the clearing and the tree bridge. He kept pace with her graciously as they ran, jumping over fallen logs and small bushes. Screechpaw laughed as Wolfpaw almost dove into a thorn bush, turning just in time before he met the painful doom. He was from WindClan; though he was good at running, he wasn't used to doing so in a heavily blanketed forest.

They stopped once they reached the lake, far away from the pandemonium behind them, the screams and growls now only a distant memory. The two sat, panting slightly as they took in their surroundings. The moon shone above them, clouds veiling it slightly. Its gentle rays fell on the water of the lake, creating a peaceful pattern that glittered in Screechpaw's eyes. The moon turned the trees and moors around the lake silver, making a dazzling black and white picture. An owl called out, its hoot a distant noise that was soon lost among the sound of the wind whipping through the forest.

Screechpaw looked up at the moon, than back down at the lake. She stood up, padding over to the edge of the water, looking down at her reflection. It stared back at her, broken blue green eyes wide and unblinking. The silver ears were perked up and stayed that way until they noticed that they were, when they flattened to their head. The muzzle twitched, noticing the small, faded scars on it that had been left by Thornstar and herself. The ruffled black and silver fur glared back at itself, reminding it how tattered and useless it was.

Screechpaw sat back on her haunches, shocked at how she looked. She'd never really thought that her trip to WindClan and sporadic fits of insanity would take a toll on anything other than her mental state of mind, but apparently they had changed how she looked, too. Her fur wasn't smooth and silky anymore, her face wasn't unscarred like it used to be, and her eyes now held the stories of a thousand years. She wasn't an adorable kit like she once was. Now, she was as old and crippled as the oldest elder in the clan, as disgusting and filthy as a piece of crowfood left out to rot for a moon. She wasn't good-looking or cute, she was worthless and crazy. It was best to just accept it.

Screechpaw found her voice, choking back tears, turning her attention back to the scenery. "Wow. It's beautiful," she managed.

She was surprised when Wolfpaw shook his head after a few moments of silence. "What?" she asked, head tilting to the side in curiosity.

Wolfpaw looked at her with his wide eyes, eyes that smiled at her shyly from their blue depths. "I mean," he whispered. "You're right, it is pretty. But it's not the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. You are."

Screechpaw's breath stuck in her throat as she stared back. She couldn't believe what he had said, couldn't process it even though it had happened right in front of her. Wolfpaw had called her the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. It was as he'd just read her thoughts and wanted to console her. And he had. In the most perfect way imaginable.

Screechpaw looked back at him, not knowing what to do, what to say. She just stared back at him, her previous feeling of grief being overcome with happiness. Instead of talking, she got to her paws and walked over to Wolfpaw, coming to sit next to him, barely enough room to squeeze a mouse in between the two of them.

They sat there, staring at the lake for what seemed like an eternity, Screechpaw's head resting on Wolfpaw's shoulder. Screechpaw sighed happily, just wanting to drink in the scent of the tom next to her and feel his comforting presence next to her.

But despite this, there was something inside of Screechpaw, and it wasn't Poolkit, that was nagging her, trying to remind her of something. It kept saying, "Remember…Don't forget about…." Try as she might, Screechpaw could never hear who the thing inside of her was talking about. Who was it that she should remember?

It confused her.

But she'd think about that later. Right now, she was with Wolfpaw, her friend who was maybe a little more than a friend. She'd have to figure that out, too.

Screechpaw looked into Wolfpaw's eyes. He stared back at her, smiling at her softly. He opened his jaws, but barely got a syllable out, didn't even get a chance to before a voice from far away interrupted him, calling out for him in search. "Wolfpaw!"

The WindClan tom groaned, rolling his eyes. Screechpaw sighed, realizing who the voice belonged to: Spikepaw.

She stepped away from Wolfpaw right before Spikepaw stepped from the woods and joined them next to the lake. He let out a sigh of relief. "There you are!" He meowed, the sound ringing loudly in Screechpaw's ears after the silence and peace that had just left her.

Spikepaw looked at her, then at his brother, then back at her. His eyes narrowed for a split second before he shook his head as if he was clearing cobwebs from his mind. "Look, I'm sorry for getting mad at you and leaving the last time we talked. I shouldn't have done that. I'm really sorry."

Screechpaw shrugged, awkwardness tingling up her spine. "It's fine. I shouldn't have asked you so many questions about your clanmates. I wouldn't spy on my friends if you asked me to, so I understand."

The three of them stood there in silence, two of them standing farther apart than necessary, the other wondering what had happened before he'd arrived. He reasoned that it was probably nothing.

"Well," Screechpaw said. "I'd better go. I'll see you guys around!"

Turning, she dove into the bushes of the island, disappearing from sight. After taking a few paces into the woods, she looked back to see Spikepaw dabbing at the water of the lake with a paw, paying absolutely no attention to anyone, and Wolfpaw watching her. He smiled as they made eye contact, raising his tail in his ritual farewell. Screechpaw smiled and dashed away.

She made it back to the clearing, which was now devoid of any cats. Looking around, she darted towards the tree bridge. Maybe if she hurried, she could catch up with—

"You seem to have a problem with being left behind at Gatherings."

The casual meow sent Screechpaw jumping backwards in surprise, yowling as she did so. She went crashing into a tree, a few leaves falling onto her pelt once she'd finally stopped moving.

Blowing a stray leaf away from her eyes, she could finally see the dark ginger and black tom who was trying to stifle his purrs. "Ruffleslash!"

"I'm sorry," he said, helping her to her paws. "Hey, it's like the day you were apprenticed! When I accidentally scared you into running into the Highledge and you got covered with rocks!"

Screechpaw rolled her eyes, grinning nonetheless. "I had hoped that that would be the last time I ran into some random object out of shock."

Ruffleslash purred, nudging his apprentice with his shoulder. "Well, if it helps, I doubt that this time will be your last time, either."

Screechpaw's eyes narrowed in confused thought, giving Ruffleslash a bewildered stare. "How would that help?"

The two burst out in laughter as they headed towards the tree bridge. Screechpaw jumped up onto it, Ruffleslash following her to help in case she slipped. She didn't.

Screechpaw relaxed when she hit solid ground again, and not just because she was no longer precariously balancing over an expanse of water in which she didn't know how to swim in. She relaxed because she was with her mentor, one of her best friends. Ruffleslash wasn't just her teacher, he was the cat who made her laugh when she was sad, the cat who made her happy when she was down. He was great.

As they walked, Screechpaw felt Ruffleslash's pelt rub up against hers a few times. When his remained there as they walked, she didn't move away and neither did he.

That's when it hit her. Ruffleslash was who she had been trying to tell herself to remember when she'd been with Wolfpaw.

She shook herself out of it. No, no! She didn't like Ruffleslash. He was her mentor, her friend. It would be ridiculous for her to like him. So she didn't.

Ruffleslash walked next to Aspenpaw, her fur rubbing against his fur comfortingly. He looked ahead of him, biting his tongue so that he wouldn't blurt out what was on his mind. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to get the scene out of his mind. He couldn't.

Aspenpaw. Some random WindClan tom. Next to the lake while cats shrieked in the distance. Whispering to each other as the moon shone down. Tails wrapped around each other. Aspenpaw, leaning her head against the tom's shoulder, sighing contently.

Then things had gotten even more confusing. Some other WindClan tom came crashing in, talking about some other meeting or something. Aspenpaw and her friend had sat there awkwardly, clearly not wanting to be part of the conversation. Ruffleslash hadn't really been paying too much attention at that part.

After, he'd run as fast as he could towards the tree bridge, not wanting to be caught by Aspenpaw or the other two toms. His mind had been in chaos. What had just happened? Why was Aspenpaw with that apprentice? Who was he? What was so great about him? Why hadn't Aspenpaw stayed at the Gathering?

What about _him?_ Ruffleslash?

That last one was the loudest of them in his mind, repeating and repeating until he could barely stand it anymore. He just didn't understand it.

He'd laughed along with his apprentice afterwards, acted like everything was fine, like he wasn't dying inside. What could he do, _would_ he do? He had to do something, right?

Yes. Of course. He couldn't just stand by while his apprentice met that tom from WindClan night after night. Not that he was talking about ending it because of the warrior code. It was…more _complicated_ than that. No, he would _never_ get Aspenpaw in trouble for meeting someone from outside of ThunderClan. She would never forgive him. He had to do something else to get her to stop. Not just for her or for the clan, but for him, too. Call him selfish if you must, but it would destroy him if he had to watch Aspenpaw falling for that brown and grey tom.

…But why?

He wouldn't answer that question…at least, not _yet._

So what _would_ he do? He asked himself this as he walked through the thorn tunnel of the camp, following Aspenpaw into the clearing.

Ruffleslash put the question on hold for a moment when Aspenpaw spoke. "Well, I'm going to go to sleep."

"Okay," Ruffleslash replied. He gave her a half smile and winked, causing her to break into a grin.

Watching her walk away, he finally answered his own question.

 _What do I do?_

 _I step up my game. That's what I do._

He shouldn't have said the next thing that popped out of his mouth. He should have at least looked around him before calling out to his apprentice, should have spoken it quietly so that only Aspenpaw would hear. But he hadn't looked, hadn't noticed the black and ginger cat behind him, hadn't realized that he'd be able to hear what Ruffleslash said. So he spoke what was on his mind, completely forgetting to check his surroundings.

"Get a good night's sleep, Aspenpaw!"

A cat cleared his throat loudly behind him. "Ruffleslash," the voice snarled.

Ruffleslash whipped around to come eye to eye with Blazestar, the realization draining all of the blood from his face. His heart dropped and a cold fear crept into his heart. He knew what would come next.

"Ruffleslash, I'd like to see you in my den. Now."

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **3713…honestly, I didn't expect this chapter to even make 2000 words, so this is a shock to me.**

 **ATTENTION! MEGA IMPORTANT! Ok, so like last chapter, if u guys don't normally review, will u PLEASE at least answer the QOTDT3? It is even more important than last time…like WAY MORE IMPORTANT!**

 **So next chapter is going to resume right where this chapter ended. IT'S A CLIFFHANGER KINDOF SORTA MAYBE!**

 **Anyways, now you understand why I said that shippers for both ScreechxWolf and ScreechxRuffle would like this chapter. Because both Wolfpaw and Ruffleslash are seen in the chappie! Yay!**

 **So a while ago, around chapter 5 (or so), I had this idea for a sequel. I can't tell you what it is yet because it would ruin a HUGE surprise, but let's just say that the main character appears RIGHT at the end of chapter 44. (ALSO WANT TO SAY THAT IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND IT IS IN THE FUTURE SOMETIME WHEN CHAPTER 44 HAS ALREADY BEEN POSTED,** ** _DO NOT GO TO THE END OF THAT CHAPTER TO SEE WHO IT IS!_** **PLEASE! I AM WARNING YOU! IT WILL RUIN SO MUCH FOR YOU, TRUST ME! JUST DON'T DO IT! IT IS NOT WORTH IT!) trust me, there is reason behind the CAPS lock. It is a beautiful button.**

 **Ok u guys, so I was doing math, because im a nerd, and I figured out that if you guys continue to review and get me 25 reviews for every single chapter from here until the end, this story could reach over 3000 reviews (that is if the story gets to chapter 132 exactly)! SO I'M LIKE SUPER PUMPED! I just wanted to let u all know that I seriously love u guys! I never could have imagined that this story would even get 484 reviews, so 3000 is astonishing! What do u say? Can we make it there? XD**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT HAS TO DO WITH WHO SHOULD DIE!**

 **QOTDT1) what's going to happen with Blazestar and Ruffleslash? Why did Ruffleslash get scared? (I bet that most of you guys are going to get this one right XD)**

 **QOTDT2) Be honest….AspenxRuffle or AspenxWolf? If not either of those, then AspenxWHO?**

 **QOTDT3) so I was talking to my friend the other day about this fanfic and I basically told her the ENTIRE story (it took like half an hour to explain XD)! As I was explaining it, both she and I realized exactly how much death is going to occur…lets just say that it is A LOT. Like, a HUUUUUUGE amount! If I had to guess, I'd guess that like 15 cats or so die, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it really is. So the question is: are you guys cool with that? Like, if there was a lot of death, would that make you more or less interested in the story? Would u even continue to read it?**

 **So….yeah. thanks for reading u guys! ur the best! Remember, the faster u review, the faster I update! The next chapter has been written, too, so how long it takes for the story to be updated is COMPLETELY reliant on u dudes! ;) and let me just say that u guys are going to love the next chapter as much as this one, probably even more….SO MUCH DRAMA!**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! K, I love u guys, ill update again once I get 25 reviews for this chapter!**

 **I love you all, bye!**


	33. Fights

**ATTENTION ATTENTION READ THIS PLS! Ok, so I've decided to do something a bit different with the whole reviewing-updating thing. It will be an either/or kind of thing. So it will be that I will update either when I get 25 reviews for the latest chapter or 35 reviews since I last posted, just in all. Like I could get 34 reviews for chapter 1 and 1 review for the latest chapter, but since it's technically 35 reviews, you guys would get a chapter! It's whichever one comes first, the 25 review thing or the 35 review thing, you know? ;) (ps, I will be repeating this at the end of the chapter, sooo…yeah.)**

 **AND YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! You guys got me an amazing 49 more reviews since last chapter! I'm just... mind blown! Thank you guys so much! You are all the best readers and reviewers that I could ever want!**

 **ALSO, THERE IS A NEW POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! DON'T FORGET TO GO AND CHECK IT OUT! DESCRIPTION OF IT IS AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER!**

 **U guys, this chapter gets SUPER intense! You're going to both love and hate it! GET PSYCHED!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

Ruffleslash sat nervously in his leader's den, watching as the black and ginger tom paced back and forth, growling underneath his breath. He kept stopping, glaring at Ruffleslash for a moment, then resuming his constant walking that got him nowhere but back to one side of his den. Several times, Ruffleslash saw him sheathe and unsheathe his claws and scrape them against a stray stone littering his floor.

He finally stopped by the entrance, looking out over the camp, which was bathed in an early morning moonlight. The sun would be out soon, turning the black of the night to a calming blue.

But that calming blue was not with Ruffleslash now. And even if it was, it wouldn't be able to calm his nerves. Not in this situation, which he had been in multiple times before.

"Ruffleslash," Blazestar growled, still watching the camp, the camp that was as peaceful and calm as the eye of the hurricane. But the leader's den wouldn't remain like the rest of ThunderClan; soon, very soon, it would erupt into insanity.

"Ruffleslash," he repeated, "You see our camp, yes? See how still it is, how quiet and obedient it stays. Do you know _why_ it stays this way?" He didn't give him a chance to talk. "It stays this way because the cats of this clan listen to me. They do what I say, understand that I know best. After all, that _is_ why I'm the leader, no?"

It was one of those questions that Ruffleslash wasn't sure whether to nod or shake his head to in response. So he did nothing.

"Order," Blazestar continued. "Order: it's the only thing that truly keeps us going. Why, without order, we wouldn't know the difference between hunting freshkill and tearing each other's throats out. You see, order is the greatest sense of all, the greatest _power_ of all. It keeps us in line, gives us rules, tells us what is right, what is wrong."

Blazestar turned from his perch, staring right into Ruffleslash's emerald green eyes. "And when someone disrupts the order, they should be punished. If I or any other cat were to ignore an act of disorder, that would be unjust, not right. The society of this great clan is built around being just, avenging what is bad, being loyal to the clan and the warrior code."

"I thought we were built around doing what is right, even if everyone else is doing what is wrong," Ruffleslash growled, not being able to keep his mouth shut any longer.

In a split second, Ruffleslash was on the ground, pain ripping through his muzzle where Blazestar had sliced through the fur. Bringing a paw to his face, he felt blood running hot and fast down his leg. Looking past his red foreleg, he turned to see Blazestar, back arched, fur bristling after his violent mood change.

"I was talking, Ruffleslash," He snarled. "Don't interrupt me."

Ruffleslash sat up, trying his best to ignore the throbbing pain radiating from his muzzle. It would only get worse. It always did.

"As I was saying," Blazestar growled, shooting the other tom a glare. "This clan is loyal to the warrior code. And doesn't the warrior code say that a warrior, or any other member of a clan for that matter, should listen and obey the leader of a clan? If I'm not mistaking, I believe that _you_ would fall under the category of one of the cats who would have to listen to me. Correct?"

Ruffleslash didn't respond, earning him a harsh kick to the head. "I asked you a question and I expect you to answer me!" Blazestar roared. "Now, am I correct or not?"

Ruffleslash got to his feet, shaking his head to try to clear it of the pain. "You're correct."

"Speaking in general, if a cat were to break a rule or do something wrong, wouldn't it be just to punish them in some way?"

Ruffleslash hesitated before answering, not even sure that Blazestar wanted an answer. "Yes."

"And if a cat were to _repeatedly_ continue to break the _same_ rule, wouldn't it make sense to keep on punishing them, more severely every time they were to misbehave?"

Ruffleslash swallowed nervously. "Y-yes."

Blazestar kicked Ruffleslash again, balancing on his forepaws and kicking out viciously with his hind ones. They connected with the other tom's side, sending him hurling across the den, slamming into the stone side with a sickening thud and a yelp of pain.

Blazestar bent down over the warrior, smiling menacingly down into his face. "I'm so glad you agree, Ruffleslash."

Standing back, he surveyed the cat shuddering on the ground. "Now answer me this: why would your case be any different? Why should you not have to face the consequences of your repeated actions, again and again and again? Why are you different?"

Ruffleslash could have said a lot of things. He could have said several things that would get him out of this quicker and more painlessly, something like "Because I respect you" or "Because I won't do it ever again," or even just saying, "I'm not different, I deserve this." Any of those things would get him out of this situation a _lot_ faster. But he didn't say any of those, not just because they were all lies, but because he wouldn't back down from this.

"I'm different because I'm doing what's right," Ruffleslash meowed, finding the strength to make his voice steady and even. He heaved himself to his paws, ignoring the blood that ran down his side from when he had slammed into the wall. He lifted his chin, as scared as he was, and looked straight into his leader's eyes. "I refuse to stoop as low as you. The rest of the clan might do what you say, go along with you through the thick and thin, and I usually do, too. But not with this, not in this case. You can beat me and attack me all you want, but I won't stop. You can't change my mind about this."

Blazestar glared at Ruffleslash through narrowed eyes, tail lashing and ears pressed against his head in rage. This puny warrior was going against him, and that was something that he didn't stand for.

"Fine," he meowed, sharpening his claws against the hard ground of his den. "Have it your way."

. . . ….. . . .

Ruffleslash staggered down the steps of the Highledge, face contorted in agony. His prediction had been correct: this time _had_ been the worst of them all.

He was quite the sight to see after his visit with Blazestar. He was bruised badly from the several places where Blazestar had kicked him. His left foreleg and right hind leg both had terrible limps, caused by several bites and tears. The rip left from his collision with the wall and the many jagged rocks sticking out of it hadn't stopped bleeding, leaving the fur on that side of his body soggy and mangled. His left ear had a horrific scratch, running from one side of his face to the tip of the ear, leaving a part of it split apart. A patch of fur was missing from next to his swollen right eye, a few spots of blood around it. A small trail of blood leaked out from his mouth and nose, running down his chest and leg. But the only thing that seemed to be on his mind was how Aspenpaw would react.

It was far past morning, the sun now in the sky and beginning its journey towards its highest point. Not yet the afternoon, but far enough into the day so that all of the patrols had been sent out. So it was just him and his apprentice.

Taking a deep breath, he ducked his head into her den. "Aspenpaw, let's go! Come on out, we've got to go and get some training done."

Ruffleslash pulled his head out again before she could look up at him. Pacing back and forth for a moment, a rising panic built in his chest. How would he explain this? There was no way that his apprentice believed the thorn bush excuse anymore. But what would he say? He couldn't tell her the truth, she'd just get mad and try talking to Blazestar herself. And then _she'd_ get hurt, and Ruffleslash would _not_ let his apprentice get injured because of him.

 _I guess I'll have to try to hide it from her._

 _Oh, good idea, genius! She'll only be able to tell that I got attacked AS SOON AS SHE LOOKS AT ME!_

 _Oh…you're right._

 _I AM you!_

"Aspenpaw, I'm going into the woods, just follow my scent trail when you get up, okay?"

Paying no attention to Aspenpaw's groggy mews telling him to just wait and be patient, she'd be out in one second, he ran through the thorn tunnel, going as fast as he could with half of his legs being injured and with his impaired sight from his swollen eye. Every step he took sent a million jabs of agonizing pain shooting through his body. It took every ounce of his willpower and strength to keep his jaws shut and utter anything but a quiet whimper, biting his tongue to keep in the sounds. He cut himself a few times with the thorns of the tunnel accidentally, but the pain caused from them weren't enough to override the pain from the wounds that Blazestar had given him.

 _Why didn't I just go to the medicine cat den? Wingfeather would help me for sure!_

 _But then I'd have to explain what happened to me to_ her _._

 _Isn't that better than telling Aspenpaw?_

 _I don't know. But it doesn't matter because I'm not telling Aspenpaw, either._

 _That is_ not _going to go well for us._

Ruffleslash heard his apprentice calling for him from behind him, heard her running through the forest, looking for him. He kept running.

 _What do I do?!_

He never got a chance to come up with a plan. He had reached the Great Oak when Aspenpaw finally caught Ruffleslash, running in front of him to stop him. She smiled as she blocked his path, purring wildly. "Why didn't you just wait for me, you big—"

Her purrs cut off instantly when she saw him. Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened in horror, taking in his awful state. She took a step back in shock, as if looking at him from farther away would help her to take it in.

Ruffleslash just looked away, down at the ground in shame and fear of what she would do, how she would react.

But she didn't do anything. Aspenpaw just stood back, looking at him in silence, eyes flicking from one injury to the next, head shaking slightly from disbelief. It was hard to tell if she was taking this well or not.

And then she changed completely.

Without a word, she walked over to him and looked him in the eye. Straight in the eye, not backing down or away, narrowing her eyes slightly, eyes darting from one of his to the other.

Ruffleslash didn't know what to do. Did she want him to tell her what had happened? Was she trying to figure it out? What did he do?

He looked away.

Aspenpaw sighed, looking away herself. "Let's go," she meowed, moving to stand next to him. Supporting him with her entire body, taking the majority of his weight, Aspenpaw began to walk Ruffleslash forward, grunting quietly under her breath.

To his surprise, she didn't walk towards the ThunderClan camp, but instead walked towards the lake. It was closer, he supposed, but he still wondered why she didn't just take him to the medicine cat. Not that he was complaining; he was glad that she wasn't taking him there.

After a few minutes of slow progress, the pair finally made it to the lake. Nudging him gently, Aspenpaw led Ruffleslash into the water, the tom shivering slightly at the cold of the water as it seeped into his fur. They padded a few tail lengths into the lake before they stopped, the water reaching about halfway up their legs.

"Sit," Aspenpaw mewed. Ruffleslash obeyed, swallowing to keep a yelp from the cold escaping between his jaws. Though the water still reached barely above his haunches, the combination of that and his agonizing wounds were overpowering, resulting in him turning into a whimpering kit.

Aspenpaw didn't seem to mind the cold at all. While Ruffleslash sat in the water, shivering, Aspenpaw moved around him, observing his pelt, eyes full of a mixture of fear, sadness, and…something else that he couldn't place.

Ruffleslash pushed the thought to the back of his mind as Aspenpaw turned back to him, looking at him again. "Okay, this is probably going to sting a bit."

He nodded, swallowing again. He clenched his teeth as his apprentice began running the cold water over his wounds, feeling the trickles as it ran through his fur, hitting his skin and finding their own paths back towards the lake. The cold water did sting the scratches that Blazestar had given him; they ached from the cold, which penetrated deep into him even though it was greenleaf.

Ruffleslash shuddered as a particularly freezing pawful of water ran straight into the rip on his side that had been left there by the wall of Blazestar's den. Looking at it, he felt a rush of both relief and horror as the water carried blood down with it, relieved that he was getting somewhat clean but horrified at all of the blood that he'd lost from that cut alone.

Aspenpaw continued to wash her mentor carefully and gently as the water around them turned red with the tom's blood. Ruffleslash sighed, ears low, which caused the long scratch on his face and his swollen eye to throb painfully. His apprentice noticed his flinch, turning her own attention to his face.

"Close your eyes," she directed.

Ruffleslash did so, but only for a moment. Looking up at her, he watched as she soaked her paws in the water and gently shook it onto the top of his head. Blinking to get it out of his good eye, he stared up at her as she put more and more water onto his head, eyes downcast in her work. Her long black and silver pelt flowed in the lake, swaying gently like the lake grass did in a slow moving current, the fur tainted a slight pink color from his blood. But she didn't notice or didn't seem to care if she did. Her full attention was focused on Ruffleslash.

 _She doesn't have to help me._

 _But I guess I wouldn't expect her to just ignore my injuries._

 _She's going to ask._

 _What do I say?_

Ruffleslash looked down again. "Look, Aspenpaw…." He licked his muzzle painfully as the trickle of blood that had ran down his face was replenished.

She shook her head. "Don't talk. Later."

She dipped her paw into the lake again, then used the back of it to gently trace over the scratch on his face. She dabbed at it carefully, repetitively soaking the blood into the fur of her paw as it reappeared continuously. She didn't look into Ruffleslash's eyes, though his never left hers.

Her blue green gaze finally flicked to his as she sat back, the blood from the cut finally subsiding. The two sat there, not talking, just looking at each other quietly, eyes sad and ears low. Blue green stared at emerald, each staring intently, sharing the same feelings. But the specific feelings were the ones that they were afraid of, too afraid to acknowledge, to speak, to admit.

As Ruffleslash stared at her sadly, he felt a trail of blood flow past his teeth and down his muzzle. Aspenpaw noticed it immediately. She leaned forward, about to lick his muzzle clean of the red, then froze. She moved back, instead wetting her paw and wiping away the blood with the back of it. This time, she didn't even look at him; it triggered an odd feeling of sadness in his chest.

After his face was clean, she looked away, not meeting his gaze, though he internally begged her to.

 _Look at me. Just look at me._

Screechpaw looked at her paws, sniffing quietly as she got to her paws, not glancing at her mentor. _Don't. You'll just hurt yourself,_ she told herself. _Just don't._

She got to her paws, sniffing, still avoiding his gaze. "Let's go."

Helping Ruffleslash out of the lake, Screechpaw tried to ignore her nagging suspicions. Why was he getting hurt? Why didn't he tell her about it? Was he getting into fights?

Once they had gotten out of the lake, Screechpaw had Ruffleslash sit next to a tree while she ran to the cobweb tree. Sticking a swirl of the white webs to her paw, she made her way back to Ruffleslash, where she plastered them to the many bleeding wounds on his pelt. Even while she was putting some on his face, she still restrained herself from looking into the green depths of his eyes. She knew that if she did, she'd never be able to look away.

Screechpaw sat back with a sigh when she was done, looking at the ground. The two sat there for a moment, silence engulfing them. Then finally: "What happened, Ruffleslash?"

Ruffleslash had been dreading the inevitable question. And he still had no good answer. So he told her the truth. "I can't tell you."

The tom saw the anger in the eyes of the she-cat who was still not watching him. "Why not?"

He swallowed. "I just…can't."

"Uh-huh," Aspenpaw meowed, gritting her teeth. "But why can't you tell me?"

"Because," Ruffleslash answered.

"That's not an answer."

"Okay, then what do I say?" Ruffleslash mewed, a tiny prickle of irritation running through him.

"The truth!" Aspenpaw said, her gaze finally meeting his. "Don't I deserve the truth?"

"Yes."

"Then tell me."

Ruffleslash couldn't look into her eyes. If he did, he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold back the truth. And though she wanted to hear it, he didn't want to tell it.

"No."

Aspenpaw's tail lashed. She took a deep breath, clearly trying to keep her calm. "Ruffleslash. Look at me." He did. Her eyes weren't angry as she had been a moment earlier. They were concerned, scared, tired. And as beautiful as ever.

"Ruffleslash," She whispered quietly. "Tell me the truth. I've been sitting by, watching as you've repeatedly gotten hurt. I've had no clue what's been happening to you and it's been hard to not force you into telling me. But I really need to know now. I need to know before you go and get yourself hurt beyond repair, before you…." She trailed off for a moment, then shook herself. "I don't want that to happen to you, not if I can do something to help you. Let me help you. Tell me the truth."

Her eyes were wide and pleading, her ears were low and begging. Ruffleslash fought his heart, his mind telling him to be sensible, not to tell her. But it lost the fight. He was convinced. He had to tell her.

But then he remembered Blazestar, his yellow eyes alit with malice, his ripping claws and snarling teeth. If the enraged black and ginger leader had done this to Ruffleslash, an experienced warrior, who could imagine what he could do to Aspenpaw?

Ruffleslash couldn't tell her. He knew what would happen if he did: she'd get mad at Blazestar, confront him about it, then get seriously injured by the large tom. And Ruffleslash couldn't let that happen. Even if it meant that he'd have to lie to one of the most important cats in his life.

"Aspenpaw," he managed. "I wish I could tell you. I really do. But I…I just can't."

Her eyes were mad again. "Wow. I help you, clean you, patch you up, help you to walk, but you can't pay me back by telling me why I have to do those things!"

Ruffleslash shouldn't have gotten mad at that, shouldn't have snapped back, but he did. And it led nowhere good. "What, so you think you're doing a lot for me? Considering what I've been going through and why I've been going through it, you really can't talk!"

"Well maybe I _wouldn't_ be talking if you just told me the truth!" Aspenpaw hissed through snarling teeth.

Ruffleslash rolled his eyes angrily, hackles raising. "Aspenpaw, I'm not telling you! Now quite it!"

"Boy, you sure are a grateful heap of foxdung, aren't you?"

Ruffleslash gave a huff of sarcastic amusement. "That's _rich,_ coming from you!"

"How so?" Aspenpaw's mew came out as a low growl.

"It's just," Ruffleslash drawled, anger turning him bitter. "You say that as if you've helped me through so many things, as if I never say thank you. When you think about it, _you're_ the ungrateful one! Think of all of the things I've done for you! I've helped you through your father's death, been there for you through everything, made you laugh when you needed it! And do you ever say thank you? No! You just carry on as if I never did anything for you!"

Aspenpaw's mouth fell open in disbelief. "What?! I say thank you!"

Ruffleslash leaned forward, wide eyes teasing and sarcastically listening, sarcastically interested. "Name one thing, one time, that you thanked me for something big that I really helped you with."

Aspenpaw opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She shut her jaws.

Ruffleslash smirked. "That's what I thought."

"Okay," Aspenpaw meowed, quieter than before, hurt. "Okay, so maybe I'm trying to make up for it! I'm sorry that I don't appreciate you enough, I am. I'll be more grateful, I swear on StarClan! And I want to make up for it by helping you with this!"

Ruffleslash scoffed. "You can't help with this, Aspen."

"I can, I know I can! But you'll never know unless you tell me!"

"Well, I guess I'll never know."

Aspenpaw yowled in anger. "Ugh! You can be so….ugh! Moving aside the point of my ungratefulness, you can't look past the fact that I deserve to be told the truth! Didn't I just help you?"

"I never _asked_ you to help me!" Ruffleslash snarled, fur rising. Against his better judgement, he couldn't stop arguing with his apprentice.

"I helped you because I had to!" Aspenpaw exclaimed, a hint of hurt in her eyes. "I helped because you were too hurt to do what I did by yourself! I-I…I helped because you're my friend!"

"Well maybe I don't want to be friends with you!"

Ruffleslash regretted it in a split second. The simple sentence caused both cats to gasp and take a step back. Ruffleslash's eyes, along with Aspenpaw's, widened in surprise at what he'd just said.

The tom shook his head, slowly at first. Did he just say that? No, no…. why, _why_ did he say it? "Aspenpaw…I-I didn't mean that—"

"No," she cut him off. The silver and tabby she-cat was backing away quickly, ears flat against her head, eyes wide and filled with pain. "No, I know what you meant. And if that's what you want, then you're getting it."

She turned around and fled into the forest. Ruffleslash yowled, making to follow her. He gave a leap in her direction, but a shot of agonizing pain ran through one of his bruised legs, causing him to yelp in pain and fall to the ground. Struggling to his paws, ignoring the pain, he limped towards where she disappeared…

…only to see her standing there, a few foxlengths into the forest with her back to him. Hope filled Ruffleslash's chest at the sight. Maybe she'd let him explain.

But what she said demolished his hope. "Oh yeah, one more thing: don't call me Aspenpaw." And then she was gone.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw thundered through the forest, bawling nonstop as she ran. Her endless tears blurred her vision, making her run into bushes and thorns. But she didn't care. She just wanted to put as much distance between herself and _him_ as she could.

 _How could he say that to me? Why would he? He's not that kind of cat!_

 _Maybe you judged him wrong, Screechy._

 _Poolkit….please don't. Now is not the time._

 _Why not?_

 _Because I…I'm…._ An onslaught of sobs kept her from answering the question. She was hurt, shocked…heartbroken? No, not heartbroken. Never heartbroken.

And then Poolkit did something that Screechpaw never expected her to ever do and something that she never did to Screechpaw again. She comforted her.

 _There there, Screechpaw. It…it's okay._

 _What?_

 _It's okay._

 _Did you just…say something nice?_

 _Ugh, don't remind me. I don't do it that often, but I don't like it when I do._

The comment from Poolkit made Screechpaw laugh out loud for a moment. The often grumpy and mean she-cat had actually managed to make her feel slightly better. But not by much, not enough to make her stop bawling, to stop her from replaying the scene with Ruffleslash over and over again in her mind.

 _Thanks, Poolkit._

 _Well, don't expect this from me all the time. This is like a one-time incident._

 _Okay. But still…thank you._

 _Don't mention it…ever…please._

Screechpaw stifled another body-racking sob as she padded into camp and sprinted to the apprentices den. She ran to her nest, not bothering to position it so that it was comfortable. She just fell on it, curling up in a tight ball, crying her eyes out.

 _I guess he doesn't care about me…oh, what does it matter? I guess I'll just have to promise myself to return the feelings._

But as she drifted into an unsteady sleep, filled with angry Ruffleslashes and bared teeth, she knew that she could never truly keep that promise.

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **4348…I think this is the second longest chapter I've ever written! Good job, Whisperblaze!**

 **So another cliffhanger!...kind of…..idk…yeah…I hope u guys liked that chapter…even though they got into a huge fight…?**

 **Ok, so I've decided to do something a bit different with the whole reviewing-updating thing. It will be an either/or kind of thing. So it will be that I will update either when I get 25 reviews for the latest chapter or 35 reviews since I last posted, just in all. Like I could get 34 reviews for chapter 1 and 1 review for the latest chapter, but since it's technically 35 reviews, you guys would get a chapter! It's whichever one comes first, the 25 review thing or the 35 review thing, you know? ;)**

 **ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION! THERE IS A NEW POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT IS ABOUT WHOSE DEATHS YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO SEE! DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE!**

 **QOTDT1) why did Ruffleslash get punished (again, this one is pretty obvious XD)**

 **QOTDT2) what do you want to happen next chapter? (I probably will have it written by now, but I'm curious to see what you want!)**

 **QOTDT3) does Ruffleslash deserve to be "shunned" by Screechpaw for what he said? Why or why not?**

 **QOTDT4) what cats do you want to die? Which cats do u REALLY want to live? This means that if they were to die, you would straight up stop reading the story.**

 **Ok thanks for reading you guys! don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I'll update again once I hit either 25 reviews for this chapter of 35 reviews in all!**

 **Ok I love u guys! c ya!**


	34. River of Prevention

**Ok, before you rip me apart, let me tell you why it took so long to update: my mom took my laptop away from me like two days after I uploaded chapter 33. She didn't give it back to me until yesterday. And I had ALL of my stuff for The Aspen's Screech on my laptop. So I was completely helpless.**

 **But that doesn't stop me from saying I AM SO SO SO SO SO SORRY! Even though it's not really my fault that I couldn't update it before now, I'm still extremely sorry! I would never leave you guys like that if I wasn't forced to!**

 **BUT OMG YOU GUYS ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! YOU GOT ME 86 REVIEWS! LIKE, HOW?!**

 **Idek.**

 **You're amazing. I luvs you all XD**

 ** _OK IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT READ THIS PLEASE!_** **Guys, I started another fanfiction! It's called Mistake and it's about the selection series! Please don't forget to go and check it out, even if you're not a huge selection fan! I still think you'll really love it! (more details on this at the end of this chapter)**

 **U know, I'm going to eventually have to stop doing rr's because of how many reviews I get XD but that won't be for a while yet ;)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

The taste of squirrel spread throughout Screechpaw's mouth as she chewed, the warmth of the blood being relished by her tongue. But it wasn't enough to distract her from her other troubles.

Screechpaw sat next to Shinepaw in the clearing, the sun shining above her as cats moved around her, going about their daily lives in the heart of ThunderClan. The newleaf air whisked by them quietly, cooling them as the weather slowly grew hotter.

The silver and black tabby she-cat's ears were low as she looked at the ground, eyes frowning in thought as she chewed quietly. Her heart was in a state of confusion: Ruffleslash had quite clearly been outright rude and cruel to her, but she still couldn't process exactly what was happening or what had happened.

She couldn't let herself believe that he really meant what he had said, that he didn't want to be her friend. Didn't he like her, at least a little bit? Yeah, he did…right? Why would he have anything against her? And besides, he always treated her nicely and had fun with her. So what was his deal now?

Screechpaw glanced over at him, eyes darting in a quick motion to the dark ginger tom, then back in a heartbeat as they connected with his sad emerald gaze. He was looking at her, regret and sadness as clear in his gaze as the sky was after a refreshing rain.

But he was sitting next to Skyheart, whom wasn't shutting up about anything, clearly. If Ruffleslash was sitting next to someone who was as rude to Screechpaw as he had been to her just hours earlier, then he clearly didn't care enough to try to send any good messages across to his apprentice.

Skyheart was blabbering on, right into Ruffleslash's ears. The tom was trying his best to ignore her, but after a few moments of trying to get Screechpaw's attention but failing epically, he turned to the she-cat who was sitting next to him.

He really wished she _wasn't_ sitting by him, but it wasn't like he could just walk away.

Screechpaw sighed as she looked at her squirrel again, batting at it slightly with her paw. How had things gotten so complicated in but a single day?

"You know, you really shouldn't be that disrespectful to your fresh kill," Shinepaw teased, hitting her sister with her silver tail.

"I know," Screechpaw replied, her sister's light mood doing nothing to improve her own. "Sorry, I guess."

Shinepaw narrowed her eyes at her. "Okay, what's up? You're obviously upset about something."

Screechpaw smiled slightly. Of course her sister would notice how down she was feeling. She was one of her closest friends…well, one of her only friends.

"It's nothing, really."

Shinepaw scoffed. "It is _not_ nothing, and you _are_ going to tell me."

"Fine!" Screechpaw rolled her eyes. "But you're going to be extremely underwhelmed. All that really happened was that Ruffleslash and I got into a fight. It's really no big deal."

Shinepaw gasped. "Really? But you guys are, like, super close! What was the fight about?"

 _Ugh,_ Screechpaw thought to herself. _Why can't she be oblivious to this kind of thing?_

"Um, I don't know. I guess he's just stressed because of being a mentor or something. He is a pretty young warrior if you think about it." Screechpaw couldn't tell her sister the real reason. Even though it made more sense than being "stressed," she wouldn't give away Ruffleslash's secret… the secret that he wouldn't even tell her.

"Well," Shinepaw meowed, knowing that her sister wasn't telling her the whole truth but looking past it anyways. "Flamelick's the same age as Ruffleslash and he doesn't seem stressed at all. Maybe it's something else." She smiled as she stood up, swatting her sister's head with her tail again playfully. "Or maybe it's just that Flamelick's a better mentor than Ruffleslash."

Screechpaw laughed good-naturedly. "Maybe."

She picked up her squirrel and went to bury it as Shinepaw padded off, going to find Batpaw. She was aware of a burning sensation on her pelt, not needing to look to know that Ruffleslash was staring at her, vibes of regret and anxiety being sent her way. She held her head high, though, refusing to acknowledge him.

 _I don't need him. And I can't let him know that I'm hurt from what he said._

In that moment, the camp walls began to close in on Screechpaw. The once welcoming hollow seemed to glare at her, growling and snarling at the black and silver tabby. Red seemed to shadow over the entire ThunderClan camp, giving it an eerie and menacing feel.

She had to get out of here.

Screechpaw padded over to the dirtplace, trying to seem calm even as fear and desperation rose in her throat. No, she couldn't look afraid while Ruffleslash was watching.

 _Stay calm._

 _Just walk._

 _It's okay._

 _Don't run, you'll look weak._

She told herself these things, taking deep breaths. It helped a little, but by the time she had buried her squirrel in the dirtplace and had escaped into the forest, she was running at full pelt, panting breaths of complete terror and fear.

Leaves and branches whacked her face as she plunged through bushes, not watching where she was going. But Screechpaw didn't care. She just needed to put space between her and the angry hollow.

Her mind raced on where she should go. The Great Oak? No….What about the beach? No, that's not it….

She just ran. She didn't pay attention, she just ran. Left and right ceased to exist. There was no up, no down, just ground. And she would run on it until her paws dropped off and she ran into the horizon.

Glancing up, Screechpaw saw the sun. It comforted her from above. It shone around her, its rays falling on her pelt and burning her. But in a good way. It helped. She wasn't sure how, but it did.

 _Don't think,_ it said. _Just do._

 _Do._

 _DO._

Screechpaw sighed. _But_ what _do I do?_

And it replied, _run._

So she listened to it.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw ran until she was out of breath and her paws were as sore as her mind. She had done laps around ThunderClan territory, and she came to collapse next to the WindClan border. She watched the water flow by as she panted, taking heaving breaths.

 _Breathe in._

 _Breathe out._

 _Breathe in._

 _Breathe out._

 _Inhale._

 _Exhale._

 _Inhale._

 _Exhale._

That was all she could focus on in the moment. Just breathing. Just being.

Voices coming from the other side of the border made her jump from her sitting position and hurry to hide in a holly bush. Peeking out from behind it, she saw a WindClan border patrol padding by, Thornstar at the front, followed by a few more cats, and then finally Wolfpaw.

Just the sight of him made Screechpaw brighten immediately. As he walked by on the other side of the river, she couldn't hold back from getting his attention.

"Psst!" she hissed quietly, but loud enough to get his ears to perk up. "Wolfpaw!"

His eyes flicked to her bush, understanding rushing into his blue orbs.

Wolfpaw held his nose high, sniffing loudly. "Hey, I think I smell rabbit! I'm going to check it out, okay?" he called to Thornstar.

The dark tabby leader turned to him and snarled angrily, lashing his tail. "Fine. But we won't be waiting up for you."

Wolfpaw opened his jaws as his patrol carried on without him, pretending to search for the scent of the "rabbit." Once they were out of sight, he let his guard down.

Screechpaw pushed her way out of the bush, leaping to the edge of the river and purring as Wolfpaw did the same. "We have to stop meeting this way."

"I know," he replied, smiling. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "I needed to get out of the hollow. Besides, I always hope that I run into you."

He purred, eyes alit with happiness. "The same goes for me."

Screechpaw wished more than anything that she could swim across the narrow expanse of water that seem to stretch on for an eternity so that she could be next to Wolfpaw. She wished he would swim across to her, too. But if he did, his mentor would know from his dripping pelt that he had crossed the border and he'd be severely punished. And Screechpaw didn't want that to happen.

"I've missed you," she mewed. "I wish I could see you more often."

Wolfpaw nodded, eyes softening. "Me too. But Thornstar hasn't been letting up on the training. Spikepaw and I are usually up until moonhigh before he allows us to sleep." He shook his head angrily. "I can't stand him. I would rather have Ropetail be leader. He's awful, but I'm pretty sure that no one could be as bad as Thornstar."

Screechpaw saddened visibly at the sight of Wolfpaw. He looked weary, done with his mentor and leader's hatred and punishment. "I'm sorry." That was all she could think to say.

He shrugged, shoving his misery away for the moment. "It's not your fault. All you ever do is make me happier."

Screechpaw purred, her heart lifting at his words. "You do, too." Yes, it sounded lame, but it was true. "My life is absolutely crazy, but you make it better. Thank you for that."

The two apprentices looked at each other, eyes connected from across the river. The river that kept them from being together, being in the same clan. Oh, if only the river was to die, to seep away into the ground and be replaced by dirt and grass and dreams. Then they could be by each other, be together. The clans wouldn't matter. The leaders, warriors, friends, family: they couldn't keep them from each other.

The Clans would cease to exist.

The border would fade away.

If only the river was gone.

If only.

They gazed into each other's eyes, desperately hoping that they could stay like this forever. Screechpaw's heart beat fast, pounding in her ears, so loud she knew Wolfpaw must've been able to hear it. It was as loud as the sun was bright, the day was clear…

And her heart was sure.

But was she?

Screechpaw looked away.

Wolfpaw cleared his throat after a moment. "Well, I should go. Thornstar's going to be mad if I don't catch up with the patrol soon." He caught her eye contact again, sadness, happiness, cautiousness, and thrill all playing out in the blueness of his orbs at the exact same time.

"I'll see you later."

"Yeah…oh-okay. Bye…"

Wolfpaw gave Screechpaw a half smile and raised his tail before bounding away into the grass, leaving Screechpaw to sit in the silence of her screaming head and heart, both competing to convince her whole body.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw was padding through the forest, heading towards the camp when he found her. She blinked in surprise when he caught her, panting from his run. She swallowed nervously, avoiding his green eyes, still not sure about whether or not she wanted to see him at all.

Because she did and she didn't.

"Aspenpaw—" Ruffleslash managed as he gasped for breath, but was cut off before he could go any further.

"I thought I told you not to call me that," Screechpaw growled. She knew this wasn't a great way to start their conversation, but she didn't care. She was still hurt and defensive about yesterday.

"I know," Ruffleslash meowed. "I know, but calling you…your other name isn't right. It's not your name."

Screechpaw was somewhat impressed and irritated at the fact that he wouldn't budge on this, but she dismissed it. "Whatever. What do you want?"

The dark ginger tom looked at his paws. "I-I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Screechpaw couldn't hold back the scoff that passed through her mouth. "Sure."

"I am!" he defended, desperation beginning to show in his eyes. "I didn't mean a word about what I said!"

"So you didn't mean that I'm ungrateful? That I'm basically a stuck up, selfish apprentice?"

"No, I didn't mean it at all!"

Screechpaw rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of anger. Why did he continue to lie to her?

"You're lying," she mewed boldly. "I know you are. How? Because I thought about what you said. And you're right. I'm not the most grateful cat on the planet, okay? So there. I said it. And it doesn't help that you're lying to me about it. Sure, you may be trying to spare my feelings, but that's not the point."

She sighed again and kicked at the ground. "Look, Ruffleslash, now's not a good time…"

She turned to walk away, but he blocked her way. "No."

"What?"

"No. I need to talk to you." His eyes were pleading, regretful.

Screechpaw sniffed angrily. "Fine. Say what you want."

Ruffleslash thought for a moment and spoke. "Look, I know I said some harsh things yesterday. Even if some of what I said was true"—Screechpaw scoffed again—"there was no reason for me to say it. It was hurtful and the wrong thing to do. And I completely regret saying that I don't want to be friends with you. I don't know where that came from, I swear to you. There is nothing inside of me that wants us to be indifferent or worse. It was a spur of the moment thing to say and it had and has no grounding, I promise you. I'm so sorry about everything I said. You don't have to forgive me; what I said was so bad that I don't deserve to be forgiven. But I need you to know how I feel about it."

He finished his speech, letting out a deep breath as if it had taken the weight of the world off of his shoulders. Now all he had to do was wait and hope for Screechpaw's reaction.

Screechpaw had been taken aback by what he said. He was clearly extremely sorry about what he'd done. There was no reason for her to stay mad at him.

 _Wait…there is…._

"Okay, Ruffleslash," she mewed. "I believe you."

He exhaled again, looking completely relieved. But Screechpaw wasn't letting him off the hook so easily.

"And I'll forgive you," she continued, " _if_ you tell me why you've been getting hurt."

He took a step back in surprise, mouth opening slightly. "Wha—but—"

"Ruffleslash, I can't forgive you unless you tell me. That's the whole reason we even got into this fight." Screechpaw looked into his eyes, hoping desperately that he'd tell her so that they could put this behind them.

 _Just tell me!_ she pleaded inwardly. _Tell me and all is forgiven!_

But the moments dragged on and Ruffleslash broke eye contact. He looked at the ground, at his paws, away from her blue green eyes.

 _No…_

 _What are you waiting for?!_ She screamed at him in her head.

 _Tell me!_

 _Don't push me away!_

But he didn't open up. He just stared at his paws, forever unresponsive.

Screechpaw stiffened. There was no hope.

With a sigh, she shook her head and turned away from him. She padded away, back towards the camp, leaving Ruffleslash to stand alone and sad, thinking about whether or not he had made the right decision.

The decision to protect her.

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2584 words. Not super long, but I think it works for the content in the chap.**

 **Anywho, I have HUGE news, as I stated before! I have started another fanfiction, one on the Selection Series by Kiera Cass. If you love the series, please please please please PLEASE go and check out my fanfic! I think that you'll love it if you love the original series ;) it's called Mistake and it's centered around Eadlyn. It would mean the world to me if you read and reviewed it :D**

 **I know what you're thinking: "dang it, now it's going to take her even longer to update this story." Well, that's not true. As I already explained, there was a very valid reason for why I didn't update sooner, so this was a one-time thing. And I also write my chapters before I get the amount or reviews needed, so then I just have to upload it onto fanfic. It will be COMPLETELY fine, I promise u.**

 **So yeah. Be sure to go and check out Mistake! It's on my profile page ;)**

 **K, one last thing: I'm moving the amount of reviews from 25/35 to 30/40. You guys review super quickly and I need the extra time lol XD**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE NEW POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT'S ABOUT THE CATS AND WHO SHOULDN'T DIE!**

 **QOTDT1) Do you like WolfxScreech?**

 **QOTDT2) I know I already asked this one, but I'm going to ask it again: what are some ships that you really think would work in this story?**

 **QOTDT3) would you ever read or consider reading my other fanfiction, Mistake? Tell me your honest opinion! ;)**

 **Okay, thanks again guys! And I apologize again for my laptop being taken! If I could've controlled whether or not my mom took it, I swear I wouldn't have let her take it! I'm sorry!**

 **I love you guys! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I'll update soon, I swear! Just get me 30 reviews for this chapter or 40 in all! I love you!**

 **Bye!**


	35. The Storm

**OK, I wanted to give a HUGE shout out to Cosmicjade for drawing this AMAZING picture of Screechpaw and Poolkit! It's seriously like the coolest thing ever, you guys! If you want to see it, get the app deviantart, look up the Aspen's Screech, and it's the one with the dark red background! Seriously amazing! Thank you so much, Cosmicjade!**

 **Ok, enjoy!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

The rain poured down over the camp, smothering the dens across the dusty floor with the never ending fall. No one was outside anymore; if any cat even set a paw out from under the canopy of leaves and branches, they'd be drenched in moments.

Screechpaw sat in the apprentices den, staring out at the rain in her melancholy. Shinepaw, Whiskerpaw, and Batpaw all slept behind her, curled up in their own nests, frolicking within their own dreams.

But Screechpaw could not do the same for the time being. Her mind, as usual, was elsewhere. While it usually jumped through the fields of insanity or slowly drifted down the river of thoughts devoted to her own torment, her brain instead settled on one subject: her mentor, the dark ginger tom who had been confusing her mind over and over again for the past few days.

She sighed. She just wished that the drama between them could be over. And while she admitted that part of it was her fault—it was always both cats' fault in an argument, after all—she knew there was logical reasoning behind what she'd done, her need to know what had happened to Ruffleslash. So it was okay for her to be mad at him if he didn't oblige and tell her.

…Right?

Screechpaw wasn't sure. She felt that she was in the right and he was in the wrong…but then again, didn't everyone think that when they got into an argument? That they were right, were _always_ right, and the other was the faulty one?

If only she was an outsider, looking in on their problems. If she did, she'd see the tattered tabby apprentice angrily stomp away from her mentor, hurt beyond words. She wasn't sure what she'd see on Ruffleslash's half; probably anger at her, regret that she was his apprentice, overpowering hatred towards the cat who had been ruining the moons he'd spent having to train her, all of them for not.

Yeah, that was it. He hated her.

And rightfully so.

She deserved to be hated.

What good was she for, anyways?

Screechpaw got to her paws, padding slowly out of the apprentices den and to the thorn tunnel, not minding the rain as it drenched her the moment she stepped within its cold embrace. Her paws stepped on prickles as she walked on, but the numbness of her mind was contagious, infectious, and it spread to her paws, her body, her heart.

She wasn't sure how to feel. It was like her heart was just a jumbled up cloud of words, thoughts, emotions, all fighting to win, but all equal in strength and size. No matter how long they fought, they'd still end up being the same in the end: completely ignored by Screechpaw's utterly confused whole.

For all that she felt in the moment was absolute numbness. From the cold, from her heart, from her mind. It was just numb. And she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to feel again.

Someone could've stabbed her through the chest at that exact moment with a rock. They could've ripped out her eyes and turned them back on her body so that they could witness the pathetic heap of pitifulness that she'd become. Her tail could've been ripped from her body and wrapped around her neck, tightening endlessly until she couldn't breathe the slightest breeze of sweet air. Any of those things could occur, but it wouldn't matter.

She wouldn't be able to feel them, anyways.

Screechpaw shook her head, trying to get herself out of this funk. Why was she letting this bother her so much? It was no big deal, anyways. How had she come to expect that Ruffleslash would treat her kindly anyways? Why would _anyone_ treat her kindly?

 _Think about Wolfpaw,_ she told herself.

And so she did.

His blue eyes.

Grey and brown fur.

Kind smile.

Welcoming purr.

Little winks.

The way he let her try again when she were training.

How he comforted her when she was having a bad day.

His caring emerald eyes.

Screechpaw huffed when she finally realized that her thoughts of Wolfpaw had shifted from him to Ruffleslash. She wasn't certain of when the topic of her thoughts' conversation had switched, but she wished she could reverse it somehow.

She sighed. Maybe she should forget about that Ruffleslash. He obviously wasn't here anymore.

Screechpaw's spirits lifted for a moment when she reached the WindClan border. Her gaze automatically raced across the grasses, searching for her best friend, but she sank to the ground when she realized he wasn't there.

Disappointed, she welcomed the rushes of water that came now that she was out in the open again. They flowed over her silver and black pelt, cleansing it of any dirt that had lodged itself in her fur during her trek through the forest.

In the back of her mind, staring at the chaos around her, Screechpaw was reminded of the night that her siblings, Poolkit, Batpaw, and she had snuck into WindClan. The storm had taken so much away from her. She couldn't help but think the same way about this one.

A flash of lightning lit up the night sky, allowing the apprentice to see just how hard it was raining; and it _was_ raining hard, there was no denying that.

 _I'd better get out of here, before this becomes all too familiar._

But as she stood from her seat next to the raging river, she turned her head to a low rumble coming from upstream. Recognizing the sound, her stomach plummeted in terror, her eyes catching sight of the crashing, black water as it rushed at her.

She was frozen in place. And even if she hadn't been, it wouldn't have been enough to save her. The waves overtook her in a matter of seconds, and, for the second time in her life, she was carried away, thrashing as she fought for her breath.

It was suffocating, the water. It shook the air from her lungs and Screechpaw found that she was angry at herself for taking the ability to breathe freely for granted.

 _I guess you never know what you have until it's gone._

And the thought was true. And not just for her current situation.

But unlike the last time that Screechpaw had found herself in the same event, being tossed and turned by the waves of the furious water, her body hit a hard object, something that obviously wasn't the ground. Instinctively, she dug her claws in, somehow managing to hold on despite the writhing river and storm around her. She was hit again and again by the stubborn waves as they rushed around her, but she remained strong, clinging to the rough object throughout it all.

And finally, the water passed by. Opening her eyes, Screechpaw saw that the thing that she clung so desperately to was a tree branch, hanging precariously across the river. It was still connected to the trunk of the tree, a good height off of the ground, as well. Looking over the edge of the bark, she swayed as she took in the sight of the rushing water that was barely a foxlength below her paws.

The base of the tree was submerged in the water, being shaken slightly by the enraged river. If she tried to escape from the tree by going to the bottom of it and jumping to the ground, she'd be swept up and carried away. There was nothing for her to do but stay on the tree branch, cold and alone, and wait it out.

And so she perched on the branch, claws digging into the bark in her desperation. Her fur was puffed out to try and keep her warm, but the onslaught of rain that bombarded her body was too much to compete with. Her attempts were fruitless.

She cried. She sat, cowering and frozen, crying into the night, her tears becoming rain drops of their own, adding to the downpour. They flowed with the dirty cloud water, purifying them with the saltiness that they held.

And so she cried for the things of that night, that particular storm that so perfectly reflected her own heart.

She cried for the rain crashing around her.

She cried for the moon, hidden behind the clouds.

She cried for the grasses of the moor, drowning in water.

The trees of the clans, protecting the earth beneath them with their billowing branches and leaves.

The cats in their dens, sleeping peacefully.

The night air, which swished around her, only adding to her frozen state.

But mostly, she cried for the loss of someone she'd thought her friend. The cat who'd talked to her, consoled her for the past moons of her life. He'd been her friend, her confidante, but now he'd left her. Screechpaw knew that things between them would never go back to the way they had been if he couldn't tell her what she needed to know and if she couldn't forgive him.

But there, sitting in the night, Screechpaw's ears perked up. Because she heard her name. Well, not _her_ name, but the title that he called her, at least.

Peering out from beneath her tears, Screechpaw looked down, past her tree branch and at the ground. There he was, fur bristling in his desperation, head whipping around wildly as he searched. Even from so far away, the black and silver tabby apprentice could see the panic and fear in his emerald eyes.

And it confused her.

"Aspenpaw!" he called again, racing up and down the edge of the river, opening his jaws to better catch her scent. He shook his head angrily, clearly giving himself a hard time about not being able to trace her in the pandemonium of the storm.

Screechpaw opened her mouth, weak from the cold and tireless wind. "R-ruffleslash!" she mewed, trying to get his attention.

She'd thought the feeble call wouldn't have much use for anything but wasting her breath, had been swept up in the sounds of the thunder and pouring rain, but it had miraculously caught her mentor's attention. At the sound of his name, his ears had perked immediately, eyes filling with hope and delight.

…and then confusion when they saw that Screechpaw was in a tree. But Ruffleslash shrugged it off, telling himself that it didn't matter _where_ his apprentice was as long as he _knew_ where she was.

"Aspenpaw!" he called to her, relief enveloping his meow. Screechpaw watched him as he gazed around frantically, taking in the submerged base of the tree. Thinking quickly, he dashed to a neighboring tree and bolted up it, then dashed onto a long branch that was just above where Screechpaw sat in her own tree. Backing up slightly so as to give himself more of a runway, Ruffleslash sprinted across the branch and jumped, soaring through the air as he made his way closer to Screechpaw.

He landed on a branch just above Screechpaw's head, shaking slightly as he steadied himself. Once he was sure that he wouldn't fall, he made his way down to where his apprentice was, nudging her shaking body with his muzzle carefully. She looked up at him, uncertainty of all emotions showing in her guarded expression.

Ruffleslash knew she had reason to be uncertain and guarded about him at the moment. He'd given her many reasons to be, after all. But he'd make it up to her. He planned to.

"Aspenpaw, let's get you out of here," he said, fluffing out his pelt to help with the cold.

After a moment of hesitation, she nodded.

Ruffleslash led his shaking apprentice away from the branch, helping her to jump from one tree to the next, grabbing her scruff when her hind legs dangled precariously when she couldn't pull herself up. The whole time, she didn't utter a word, didn't look at him. She just followed his directions and shivered from the frozen rain and wind.

When they finally dropped to the ground, Screechpaw sank down, letting out a sigh that carried all of the relief in the world. She put her head on her paws, seeming to be content with the idea of falling asleep right there.

"No, Aspenpaw," Ruffleslash meowed. "We have to get you back to camp."

"I-I don't think I can make it right now," she said. Despite what she said, she tried to get to her paws, but fell back down to the earth when a shuddering cough racked her body.

Ruffleslash winced at the noise. His apprentice had clearly caught some kind of cold. The best thing to do was to get her to the medicine den, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, his apprentice was right: she wouldn't be able to make it all the way back to camp in the state that she was in.

Sighing, he went to Screechpaw, wrapping his body around hers, trying to keep her warm. At his touch, she seemed to relax ever so slightly, but it may have been his imagination. He licked her fur, rubbing it backwards in an attempt to warm her further.

And so they sat, each warmed by the other's presence, staring at the racing water that was just tail lengths from where they were.

Screechpaw looked up at Ruffleslash, her mentor, and a stab of emotion shot through her. It carried many feelings, as it usually did: anger, regret, thankfulness, and a warm feeling that she couldn't exactly place.

She opened her jaws, but a sigh coming from the dark ginger and black tom stopped her. He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

 _What? What for?_

He didn't wait for her to speak. "I should have told you, Aspenpaw. You're my apprentice, I should trust you enough to tell you things. Especially when they involve you."

What?

 _Wait, what does he mean it involves me? I wasn't the one who hurt him, so how…_

It took her a moment to find her voice. "Wh-what are you saying?"

He opened his eyes and stared straight into her own, unflinching. "The wounds I've been getting: there're not random, for nothing, you know. There aren't many cats whom I'd be willing to take them for. But it's worth it when I know that what I'm doing is right."

Screechpaw shook her head, still not processing anything he was saying. "I don't understand."

"As you know, I've hated your name, the one Blazestar gave you, ever since the moment he said it. And I've never once called you…." He didn't let himself say 'Screechpaw'. "So I've remained stubborn and called you your real name. Some cats have noticed, but no one really cared enough to do anything.

"…Except Blazestar, it seems."

Screechpaw gasped as she realized what he meant. Her blue green eyes scanned Ruffleslash's pelt, only then really seeing all of the scars and marks on it.

Ruffleslash continued. "He thought the best way to make me shut up was by hurting me, I guess. Any time he got word of me calling you Aspenpaw or anytime he heard me with his own ears, he called me to his den. It got worse over time.

"I thought I'd be able to hide the scars from the clan. And I was; thank StarClan my pelt is as long as it is. But I wasn't able to keep them from you." He chuckled. "I knew you wouldn't buy the thorn excuse.

"Anyways, I couldn't convince you to leave it alone. And I guess it was stupid of me to not outright tell you; you'd find out eventually. You're too smart to let it go."

Screechpaw swallowed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Ruffleslash sighed. "Blazestar is cruel. He used to be kind, but then with Poolkit…and WindClan being so hostile…I don't know, but he's different now. Still the same in some aspects I suppose, but he's a bit off his rocker. You can see that from what he's done to me.

"'Order,' he says, 'is the most important thing a clan can have.' Maybe he's obsessed with it or something. I don't know, but that's what he's always talking about. It's always _order._

"It seems to me that he'll do just about anything to get order. I don't think it's ever crossed his mind that what he's doing is just the opposite of what he's seeking to achieve. Or maybe his perception of order is twisted into some weird, disfigured version of what it really is."

Ruffleslash shook his head as if he was trying to clear it of cobwebs. "I'm not sure…am I even making any sense right now?"

Screechpaw nodded once, though confusion about what his point was clouded itself inside of her mind.

He nodded unsteadily. "Okay, good. Anyways, the point is that he wants order. Order this, order that…it's crazy. It's changed him, I think. So seeing things go in a way that he wouldn't want them to go—in an unorderly way—makes him mad. Really mad, Aspen. And he does every single thing he can think of to change it.

"Including attacking me.

"Look, I know you, Aspenpaw. You're not one to hear something like this and shrug it off. I knew that if I told you about it, you'd get furious and confront Blazestar. Am I wrong in saying so?"

Screechpaw shook her head after a moment.

"Would you have done so had I told you?"

A minute of silence. "Probably."

Ruffleslash nodded, content with the answer. "Exactly. _Exactly._ You would have gotten mad, you would have yelled at Blazestar, he would have seen the act as something unorderly, and you'd have to pay for it."

Ruffleslash snarled quietly, the rage towards his leader making him growl. "He'd tear you apart. Yes, you are quite skilled, especially for an apprentice, but he's the leader of the clan. He's got moons of experience on you. There's no doubt that he'd win in the battle between you and him." Ruffleslash screwed his eyes shut, ears flat against his head. "And I couldn't let that happen. Not if I could help it."

"So I couldn't tell you, Aspen. Not when I knew that you'd get hurt from it. So I bit my tongue. Refused. And if it meant that you hated me for it, then so be it. I'd rather have you hate me then have you get hurt. Because as painful as it'd be to have you despise me…nothing would be worse than knowing you went through any kind of pain because of me."

Screechpaw looked at her mentor, the tom who had gone through beatings for her, tortured himself with his knowledge for her. He sat there, pained and hurt, all because of her.

And Screechpaw felt terrible.

"I…" she started, having to clear her eyes of the tears to speak. "I had no idea, Ruffleslash. I'm so sorry."

He looked up at her and shrugged, a small smile on his lips. "It's not your fault,"

"No, but it is—"

"It is _not,"_ he mewed, shaking his head. "I know you're probably wondering why I keep calling you Aspenpaw when all it does is bring me is pain. In all honesty, I don't mind the pain, not when I know that it comes for doing the right thing. So don't even try to convince me to call you your other name, because you'll just be wasting your breath.

"Also," he whispered, leaning in as he were about to tell his apprentice some big secret. "I kind of like that it gets Blazestar mad. It makes me oddly happy to know that I hold in my paws the ability to make him feel powerless. No matter what he does, I won't stop calling you Aspenpaw. And that infuriates him. He knows that it's really out of his control."

Screechpaw smiled quietly. "That's a dangerous thing for you to do, Ruffleslash. He could punish you even more severely than he has been."

Ruffleslash shrugged. "I'll take my chances."

Screechpaw purred, pressing herself further into his fur while he wrapped himself tighter around her. A warm fire burned in Screechpaw's chest, filling her up with warmth in spite of the weather around her. Everything between Ruffleslash and her was at peace. Finally.

And she was happy.

Suddenly, a light clicked in her mind, reminding her to do something that she should have done a long time ago.

"Thank you," she whispered. The two words, as small as they were, were filled to the brim with complete thankfulness and caring. They were every time she should have said them, every tear consoled, every longing appeased.

At the words, Ruffleslash wrapped himself a little tighter around Screechpaw, his chest swelling. And it may have been her imagination, but Screechpaw could almost swear that she heard his smile in his response.

"Anytime."

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **3490 words. I honestly didn't expect this chapter to be any longer than 2000 words, so that's not bad ;)**

 **If you're a fan of the selection series, don't forget to go and check out my other story, Mistake, and my book of one shots! They're on my profile page!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT'S ABOUT WHO YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!**

 **QOTDT1) did you like the way that they resolved their problems in this chapter? If you could have written it, what would you have changed? (ex, different setting, more characters involved, etc.)**

 **QOTDT2) if you could be any character in The Aspen's Screech, who would you be?**

 **QOTDT3) which cat (top or bottom) should be the cover image for this story? (the cats are on the current cover image right now)**

 **Well, that's it for now, lovelies! I'll update again once I get 30-40 reviews! I luv you all! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review!**

 **OK I'll see you later byeeeee!**


	36. Substitute Mentor

**OK BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING ELSE,** ** _PLEEEEASE_** **BE SURE TO ANSWER QOTDT3! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!**

 **And that's right, the impossible has happened: Whisperblaze has decided to be generous and has rewarded you guys, the readers, with a chapter before she got 30/40 reviews. I'm early with this chapter. Crazy, right?! Anyways, you're welcome ;) I hope you like it, though I know you'll probably actually hate it…yeah…idk…**

 **Oh, and I've decided to have a quote from every chapter be right before every chapter! I hope you like the ones I choose! They're my personal favorite lines from each chapter ;)**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 _"_ _So don't get your hopes up. Because they're only going to crash. And you're going to get trapped beneath them."_

 _~Skyheart_

. . . ….. . . .

"I'm sorry, but he has to stay here until he's better. I can't allow a warrior to carry out their duties unless they are fully healthy."

Miraculously, Screechpaw wasn't the one who ended up being the sicker of the two cats who'd been out in the rain. After one night in the medicine cat's den, she was back to being her happyish and somewhat healthy self. But not Ruffleslash. He'd contracted a serious cold, shivering viciously even in the newleaf warmth. Screechpaw felt awful about it, blaming herself as she usually did, but her mentor just waved her apologies off, saying it was his choice to follow her into the storm. And he wasn't sorry that he'd done it.

"But he's my mentor!" Screechpaw argued, narrowing her eyes at Wingfeather. "What am I supposed to do while he's in here? Sit around, watching the grass grow?"

"I wouldn't recommend it, but yes, that could pass the time," Wingfeather retorted as she sorted through a pile of herbs, shooting a glance at the silver and black tabby apprentice that was hissing at her.

Screechpaw huffed, rolling her eyes. She'd never really noticed how sarcastic the medicine cat was. At that moment, she wasn't exactly sure how she'd missed it.

"Well, if Ruffleslash isn't going outside, then neither am I." Screechpaw sat down with a sniff, staring unflinchingly at the medicine cat.

Wingfeather wasn't ruffled. "Yes, you are. You can't just shirk your apprentice responsibilities because your mentor has caught the sniffles. In fact," she added as she peeked out of the den, "here comes your substitute mentor."

Screechpaw blinked in surprise. "Substitute mentor?"

"Yes," Wingfeather answered, a hint of irritation creeping into her voice. "Since Ruffleslash can't teach you for the next few days, someone else will. Blazestar assigned you someone who he thought would do a sufficient job."

Curiosity and excitement filled Screechpaw. Not that she would want someone else to mentor her, but this could be fun. This way, she could get help from several different cats and her skills could be sharpened further.

 _I wonder who it is!_

 _Oh trust me, you'll be_ very _pleased with who it is._ The sarcasm and delight dripping from Poolkit's voice set Screechpaw on edge.

 _What do you—_

She couldn't even finish the thought from the intense amount of dread that filled her up. Screechpaw knew who it was. And she couldn't be less excited.

"Hi, Ruffleslash!" Her voice filled the room as she poked her brown and grey head through the entrance, yellow eyes lighting up as they fell on the tom. She stepped fully into the den, her tail knocking over a stack of herbs in her excitement, earning her a dirty glance from Wingfeather.

Ruffleslash smiled politely at the she-cat, dipping his head slightly. "Hey, Skyheart." She giggled at the sound of her name coming from his mouth. "So, you're the cat who's replacing me?"

"It would seem so." Skyheart's eyes flitted over to Screechpaw for barely a millisecond. In that fraction of time, she was able to convey so much to the apprentice. And none of it was good.

Ruffleslash wasn't a fool, though. He knew how much Skyheart despised Screechpaw and he knew how little his apprentice thought of the warrior. "You really don't need to do this, Skyheart," he meowed. "I can find someone else to mentor Screechpaw."

Skyheart was shaking her head vigorously before he had even finished speaking. "No, no, I'm perfectly fine with mentoring her for a few days! Besides, I'd do anything for you, Ruffleslash!"

Behind her, Wingfeather scoffed quietly and Screechpaw could hear her eyes roll in the noise. She completely agreed with her; how sappy and clingy could someone get?

Apparently as sappy and clingy as Skyheart was.

Ruffleslash shifted slightly in his nest and gave a small cough. "Well, er, thanks, but you really don't—"

"Trust me, Slashy, it's fine!"

Screechpaw had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep herself from outright laughing at the ridiculous nickname. It didn't keep her from smiling like a mouse brain, though, and Ruffleslash noticed, flicking his ear at her in annoyance and embarrassment.

"Well," he continued. "If you're sure, then I guess it'll be fine…"

"Oh, I'm as sure as can be!" Skyheart purred, overly exaggerating her happiness at the task. "And don't worry about a thing, I'm sure Screechpaw will be just _fine!"_ Only how she said 'fine' sounded more of a threat to Screechpaw than it did an actual reassuring word.

"Um…okay…" Ruffleslash mewed, shrugging in defeat. "Have fun…I guess?"

"Oh, we will!" Skyheart exclaimed as she turned away from Ruffleslash, shooting Screechpaw a deathly glare as she passed her. Then, with one last flick of her tail and throwing a 'come on, Screechpaw' over her shoulder, she was gone.

No one said a thing in the wake of the absence of such a demanding presence. Then Wingfeather finally spoke, shaking her head as she did so. "Thank StarClan it's gone."

Screechpaw laughed. "Yeah, _it_ can be a bit much, can't it?"

Ruffleslash rolled his eyes. "Ugh, you're telling me!"

Screechpaw looked at her mentor, empathy shining in her eyes. "I'm sorry you have to put up with that all of the time. It must be awful."

He shrugged. "Well, at least she's not secretive about it, right?"

Screechpaw smiled. "Is that a plus, though?"

Ruffleslash hesitated, scratching his head. "I...I'm not…sure…."

The two laughed, only to almost immediately be cut off by the medicine cat. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Screechpaw?"

She sighed. "Unfortunately."

Ruffleslash gave his apprentice a wink, which brought a smile to her downcast face. "Stay strong."

"I'll do my best."

Screechpaw sighed again as she headed outside, not surprised to see Skyheart blatantly glaring at her already from where she sat across the camp. At the sight of her temporary apprentice, she stood and padded through the thorn tunnel, not bothering to wait.

 _Not that I'd expect her to or anything._

 _I like her._

 _Ugh. Why?_

 _Because she doesn't like you._

 _I should've seen that one coming._

 _Yes, you definitely should've._

Once she was out of the tunnel, Screechpaw followed Skyheart's rump from a few tail lengths behind her, being sure not to do anything that might draw attention to herself. She did _not_ want to get on her bad side.

But after an eternity of silence, her curiosity and overall ignorance in the current situation drove her to speak. "So, uh, where are we going? What are we doing?"

The sigh mixed with a groan of annoyance reached her ears faster than she'd thought possible. Skyheart's cold and irritated yellow orbs whipped around to stare at Screechpaw angrily, narrowing at her menacingly.

"Why are you talking to me?" she growled, getting straight to the point.

"I, uh, was just—"

"I, uh, I—what? Are you so crazy that you can't even speak normally?"

Screechpaw's jaw fell, her eyes blinking in surprise. Nobody had even mentioned her unsteady state of mind in forever. She'd thought that most cats had forgotten about it by then.

Skyheart picked up on her shock, reading her mind. "What, did you think I'd forgotten or something? Think I forgot about your insane fits? Huh?"

Screechpaw was frozen from surprise. She hadn't thought anyone would be so outright rude about anything they wanted to say. After a long moment of awkward silence, she finally found it in her to shake her head.

"Good. Because I won't forget. And no one else has forgotten, either. No one will _ever_ forget. How could they? You've certainly put on a show for the whole of this clan; falling out of the Great Oak, screaming at nothing, your weird, color changing eyes. If that's not crazy, I don't know what is.

"And another thing: you think I haven't noticed how you act around Ruffleslash? Because I have, oh, I have. _Everybody_ has."

Screechpaw swallowed, terror and fear filling her up. Had the others actually noticed how she'd been acting around her mentor for the past few days, past halfmoon? Had she been that obvious?

 _No, I can't be obvious about something that's not there._

 _Oh, but is it really not there, Screechy?_

 _Of course it's not there!_

 _I can't tell if you're trying to lie to me or to yourself._

 _I'm not lying to you_ or _me. I don't feel anything for Ruffleslash…right?_

 _If you doubt yourself at all, Screechowl, that's got to be a clear sign._

 _But I like Wolfpaw, not—_

"Well?" Skyheart snarled, flicking her tail in front of Screechpaw's face. "Do you think I haven't noticed?"

Screechpaw straightened, standing taller. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Skyheart scoffed. "Oh, don't play dumb. Well, dumber than you already are. I can see you have a thing for Ruffleslash."

"I don't, I swear!"

"Don't give me that! I don't want to listen to any of your terrible excuses and lies! I have eyes, you know! And let me tell you what I see when I look at you: a stupid, filthy little kit. Look at yourself! You're crazy and small. You're too dumb to keep your mind from going insane. You're ugly and ragged. You're pitiful and useless.

"And you're even dumber than I thought you were for thinking Ruffleslash could ever like you. Do you really think a tom like him could ever like someone like you? Don't you think a tom like him would prefer someone like _me_? Pretty, skilled, smart, fun. Everything you're not. And so much more. So don't get your hopes up. Because they're only going to crash. And you're going to get trapped beneath them."

Screechpaw swallowed, trying to keep a wail of hurt from rising in her throat. "I-I don't care what you say. And I don't care if you don't believe me when I say that I don't like Ruffleslash. _I_ know how I feel. And I don't need someone like you to rub your opinions in my face."

Skyheart smirked, shoving her muzzle right in front of Screechpaw's. "Oh, but they aren't opinions, hon. It's a fact that Ruffleslash will never like you. Honestly."

Screechpaw swallowed again, tears rising to her eyes before she blinked them away. _No, not here, not in front of Skyheart._

"I don't care about anything you have to say, Skyheart."

She narrowed her eyes. "And I don't care if you don't want to listen to me, but you'd better listen now and listen good, cat. If I see you talking to Ruffleslash about anything other than your stupid apprentice duties, you're going to be sorry. I'm warning you. Stay. Away. From Ruffleslash. Or else. He's mine."

With that, she whipped around, stalking off further into the forest, leaving Screechpaw to exhale a breath she'd been keeping inside of her throughout their entire conversation. She panted, eyes flicking desperately through the trees. She wouldn't believe what Skyheart had said, she couldn't.

But Poolkit wouldn't let her off the hook.

 _She's right, you know._

 _He could never like you,_

 _Love you._

 _You're crazy._

 _And he's perfect._

 _He'd never even consider you._

 _You're nothing._

 _NOTHING._

 _And he hates nothing._

 _Despises nothing._

 _He hates you._

 _He wishes you were dead._

 _You should die._

 _Just die._

 _He'd be glad if you were gone._

 _Gone._

 _Just leave._

 _He'd be better off without you._

"No," Screechpaw whispered, shaking her head violently as the voices filled her mind. "No." They were lying. She knew this. Ruffleslash did care about her. And while he may not like her for anything more than a friend, he did care. He'd be sad if she died, even if that was all he was: sad. Not heartbroken, not crushed, but sad.

At least he'd be sad.

Pulling herself together, Screechpaw caught up with Skyheart, glaring at her from behind. She found the courage in her to run past the warrior, halting in her path.

"You didn't answer my question, Skyheart."

The she-cat snarled, rolling her eyes in irritation. "What question?"

"What are we doing?"

The simple question that had started their entire heated conversation.

Skyheart growled slightly, the expression only to be turned to one of contempt and sly happiness. "WindClan border. Hunting."

Great. Screechpaw should've known the warrior would make sure they were assigned to go to the place that frightened her more than anything in the world.

And this was just the first day of having Skyheart be her substitute mentor.

This was going to be fun.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2082 words. Kind of short but it works for this chapter.**

 **If you're a fan of the Selection series, be sure to check out my selection fanfic, Mistake, and my book of one shots!**

 ** _PLEASE ANSWER THE QOTDT3 FOR THIS CHAPTER! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT! THANKS!_**

 **DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT HAS TO DO WITH WHO YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!**

 **QOTDT1) do you think Skyheart should ever get a mate? If so, who?**

 **QOTDT2) if you could choose one of the current apprentices in this fic to be made the leader of their clan, who would you choose? (out of Screechpaw, Shinepaw, Whiskerpaw, Spikepaw, and Wolfpaw. Preferably not Screechpaw because she's the obvious choice, but still XD)**

 **QOTDT3) Ok, so I had the brilliant idea of making another warriors fanfic, but instead of being a normal fic, it would be a book of one shots for The Aspen's Screech! Would you like it if I did this?**

 **Ok, so PLEASE be sure to answer QOTDT3! I really need to know! Anyways, don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I'll update again once I get 30-40 reviews! Luv ya, my baes!**

 **;)**


	37. Left to Fight Alone

**BIG BIG NEWS GO TO THE BOTTOM TO READ PLEASE VERY IMPORTANT!  
**

 **OK, in apology for how insanely stupid I am, I will be rewarding you, my AMAZING readers, with as many updates as I can possibly manage for the next few days. That means basically one a day through Friday or maybe even Sunday.**

 **So yeah. I'm sorry. But at least I'm giving you something this time, right? We good? I hope we're good XD**

 **HUGE SHOUTOUT TO GOLDSKIES5 FOR REVIEWING LIKE ALL OF MY CHAPTERS! YOU'RE AMAZING OMG!**

 **Lastly, I'm not going to do any RR's for this chapter because I'm going to instead use the time to start writing the next chapter so that I can post that as soon as possible. That's like an extra hour to work on the chapter, you guys XD**

 **Ok enjoy the chapter (that I should've written and posted a month ago)!**

. . . ... . . .

 _"_ _He was like the ever-changing weather; clear one day, to the point and viewable, then dark and stormy in the next moment, unable to be deciphered by even the most capable of individuals. He was ever changing, never constant or reliable in the slightest."_

 _~Screechpaw, thinking_

 _. . . ... . . ._

The warm greenleaf rays, which were soon to turn into those of leaffall, fell onto the forest floor, dappling the ThunderClan cats' pelts as they padded across them. The scent of pine danced at their noses as they drew closer and closer to the other clan's territory, the large shadows and gloomy lights already showing from up ahead. The feel of the morning hung sullenly in the air, as if nothing good was to come from the day. It wasn't the right way to start out any day, with such a pessimistic and hostile view of the world.

Glancing up, Screechpaw saw Skyheart give her a disdainful look before turning to walk after Cardinaltail and Shimmersoar. She sighed, her shoulders slumping as she went to catch up with them. She'd had Skyheart as a substitute mentor for only a few days now, but it was becoming so unbearable that Screechpaw was praying for the end of the torture.

 _I'm praying for the end of your pathetic life._

And, of course, there was always Poolkit, the ray of sunshine. Ever since Skyheart had started training her, Poolkit had been showing up more and more in Screechpaw's head. The deceased kit knew that Skyheart was making Screechpaw's life hard, so she'd decided to make her presence known even more than it had been before so that Screechpaw went through as many hardships and turmoil as possible.

 _Thanks, Poolkit. It means a lot to me._

 _Well, I hope it doesn't._

 _You're right. It doesn't._

 _Good._

As the small patrol reached the border and began to freshen the scent markers, Screechpaw found her mind slipping into random thoughts while she went about the monotonous and repetitive actions. She thought about her siblings, Whiskerpaw and Shinepaw, and their progress with training. She thought of Batpaw and how well he'd been doing ever since the death of his sister. She thought of Spikepaw, one of her best friends, and how she wished she could see more of him.

But mostly, she thought of Wolfpaw and Ruffleslash, her two favorite toms in the world. They were always there for her, through thick and thin, through the hard times and the easy times, as few of those as there were. She didn't know what she'd do without them.

But they were also the two most confusing toms that she knew. Well, Ruffleslash was more so than Wolfpaw, but they both had their confusing qualities about them. Screechpaw knew that Wolfpaw liked her, and she liked him, too, but Ruffleslash was harder to figure out. Screechpaw had no idea as to whether or not he liked her as anything more than just an apprentice; he didn't seem to be giving her any clear signs. Some days, she was sure that he liked her, but then it would be less obvious the next day. He was like the ever-changing weather; clear one day, to the point and viewable, then dark and stormy in the next moment, unable to be deciphered by even the most capable of individuals. He was ever changing, never constant or reliable in the slightest.

And Screechpaw wasn't sure what she wanted him to be or what she wanted him to think. Whenever she caught herself thinking of him, she slapped herself and said that she was being silly. He didn't like her, not in that way, at least. Why get her hopes up when they'd just come plummeting down like Skyheart had said? If Ruffleslash didn't like her, then having any sort of feelings for him would only end up with Screechpaw getting hurt in the long run.

Besides, she had Wolfpaw, the cat who treasured her despite her thousand flaws. Why would she need anyone else when she had him? He was perfect, amazing, everything she could hope for. Yes, he was the one she wanted.

…But that thought still wasn't enough to banish all thoughts of Ruffleslash from her stubborn and immovable heart. She cursed it for being so resolute and unchanging. Oh, how she wished it wasn't so resolute and unchanging. If only her logical skull could persuade her foolish heart to give up its idiotic ways and see reason.

And when she asked herself the question of which tom she'd pick was she given the option… well, she chose not to think about it. She banished the thought from her mind, not because she was afraid of the answer, but because she couldn't come up with an answer. She just couldn't.

Shaking her head to clear it of the troublesome thoughts, she bounded ahead to catch up with the other ThunderClan cats, coming to pad next to Skyheart. The she-cat growled under her breath in exasperation when she saw her temporary apprentice, rolling her eyes and looking forward in annoyance.

 _Hey, I don't want to be here, either,_ Screechpaw thought.

The four cats were minding their own business, freshening up one of the scent markers, when Screechpaw noticed a pair of eyes staring out at them from the other side of the border. When she made eye contact with them, they narrowed threateningly, the owner of the eyes stepping out of the shadows.

It was Rustclaw, the ShadowClan deputy. Screechpaw had met him only once before, while she was on a different border patrol, and it had ended with him storming off in a rage because of what she'd said. Screechpaw swallowed nervously; hopefully the brown tabby wouldn't remember her.

Cardinaltail was the first to notice the deputy. He turned to him, cautiously taking a step forward. "Rustclaw," he meowed in greeting, dipping his head.

"Cut the formalities," the tom snarled. "What are you ThunderClan scum doing?"

"Just checking the borders," Cardinaltail replied, flicking his tail in irritation. "We haven't crossed into your territory or done anything wrong."

"How would I know that?" Rustclaw growled, flexing his claws. "You could have gone across the border a while back, while I wasn't here. I wouldn't put it past you to do something so low."

Shimmersoar stepped forward. "What reason would we have to do that exactly?"

"Oh, you know, what with the rising tensions between you and WindClan, you could've decided to expand your territory on the other side of your land," Rustclaw meowed. "That way you'd still have some extra in case WindClan took some of yours."

"Well, excuse me for saying so oh high and mighty deputy," Skyheart snarled, rolling her eyes as she spat out the sarcastic words. "But that is some of the stupidest reasoning I've ever heard."

Rustclaw smiled, tilting his head to the side. "Oh really?"

Skyheart puffed out an unbelieving breath. "Uh, yeah. 'You'd still have some extra in case blah blah blah blah,'" she mimicked. "Is that the best reasoning you could come up with?"

Rustclaw shrugged. "It made sense to me."

Skyheart laughed. "Ha! Well I don't believe it. That sounds like a load of fox dung to me. Are you really so naïve to think we'd buy that?"

Her words earned her a growl of warning from Cardinaltail, whose eyes shone with cautiousness. Skyheart just waved her tail at him.

Despite her hatred for Skyheart, Screechpaw couldn't help but be impressed with how she was acting. Yes, it was stupid and egotistical of her to take on the deputy of ShadowClan, but there was something inspiring and awing about the way she fearlessly yelled at him.

Skyheart flicked her ears in disgust. "It seems to me like you just want to fight, huh? But you needed a reason so you came up with that pathetic excuse. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but even if that reason was enough to provoke us, we'd win. It's four on one. Use your brain! That wouldn't even be a fight."

Skyheart smirked, whipping her tail around in contempt and sureness of her position. She glared across at Rustclaw, who sat with a smug grin on his face.

"Well," he mewed smoothly. "You're right about one thing. I do want a fight."

At those words, several ShadowClan warriors bounded from the darkness of the territory, leaping at the ThunderClan warriors head on. The four cats yowled in surprise, falling back slightly as their enemies bombarded them.

Screechpaw found herself fighting a black tom with a silver forepaw, Clawpelt. He snarled at her menacingly, swiping a paw at her head. She ducked in the nick of time, dropping her head and thrusting it at him. It hit him squarely in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards slightly. Seizing the opportunity, Screechpaw sprung at him, but Clawpelt dodged, shoving her sideways with his forepaws as she flew past him, causing her to tumble over in the underbrush.

Getting to her paws, Screechpaw faced the tom again, preparing herself to launch forward. But the ShadowClan warrior did it first, jumping at her so quickly that she didn't have time to react. They bowled over, hissing and scratching all the way. As they skidded to a halt, Clawpelt ended up on top, digging his claws into her shoulders and haunches. He scraped them down her back, leaving the apprentice to squirm and yowl in agony.

With a burst of energy, Screechpaw heaved upward, throwing the tom off of her. She ignored the blood running off her pelt, instead turning to see what shape her clanmates were in. From what she could see, they were outnumbered five to four. Cardinaltail and Shimmersoar had their backs pressed up against each other's, striking out at the three cats they were taking on together. Though they were clearly exhausted, it seemed like they were winning. Skyheart fought Rustclaw just a little bit past them. She had a nasty scratch on her left shoulder but other than that, she seemed unscathed. It surprised Screechpaw that she actually seemed to be winning the fight against the ShadowClan deputy.

Screechpaw had run out of time to watch her clanmates. Clawpelt was on his paws again, a snarl plastered on his outraged face. The look he gave Screechpaw sent a shiver down her spine; he looked done with her, as if he'd had enough of the apprentice. He was a warrior and he'd be darned if he lost to anyone younger than him.

With a yowl of anger, he sprang at Screechpaw, flinging out a paw at the last moment and catching her on the side of the head. She shrieked in pain as a wave of blood washed over her eyes, forcing her vision to focus solely on the color of red. She didn't have enough time to blink her eyes clear because in the next moment, she was being thrown against a tree. Her back smashed against the trunk, sending a shot of pain through her body as she fell to the ground.

Wiping the blood from her face with her paw, Screechpaw was able to see the fuming form of Clawpelt as he ran at her yet again. Panicked, the silver and black apprentice was barely able to put up her paws in defense as the tom struck out at her again, bringing down his forepaws with all of his weight. They fell down on her chest, knocking any wind that was left in her from her lungs.

 _Get up!_ she urged herself.

Screechpaw tried to get to her paws, but she was only shoved down again by a purring Clawpelt, resentment glinting in his eyes. With the speed of a WindClan cat, he spun on his forepaws and kicked at Screechpaw's face with his hind legs as he balanced expertly. The apprentice let out a squeak of pain as his paws connected with her jaw, sending a jolt of agonizing pain through her face.

As Screechpaw looked up again, just past the form of her adversary, she caught sight of her "mentor." Rustclaw had left her, either having been defeated or gone to fight someone else, but either way, she was alone now. Skyheart saw Screechpaw, saw the desperate pleading in her eyes for help, saw the blood spurting from the wound on her head…

…and all she did was smile. She grinned at the sight of Screechpaw being in such bad shape, up against a much more skilled warrior. She was losing badly, injured terribly, and clearly needed help, but Skyheart wasn't going to help her. Not even a little bit. Instead, she turned away and ran to help Shimmersoar and Cardinaltail.

Leaving Screechpaw to fight alone.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechpaw stumbled into camp, wiping away more blood from her head as she looked around wildly. The three other cats from the patrol had padded into camp ahead of her and had already made their way to the medicine cat's den, now sitting inside and being treated before her even though her injuries were worse.

In the long run, they'd "won" the battle because Rustclaw had ordered his warriors to retreat, but Screechpaw had most definitely lost her fight with Clawpelt. He'd purred as he bounded away from her, thinking her a weak and pathetic ThunderClan cat. Screechpaw couldn't really blame him for thinking that, though. She had done pretty badly.

The sight of Ruffleslash hurrying towards her sent a rush of relief flowing through Screechpaw. "Screechpaw!" he exclaimed, emerald eyes widening as he took in her state. "What happened? Are you okay? You look terrible, let's get you to Wingfeather."

"I'm fine, honestly," Screechpaw consoled. "It's just my head, really." _Lies._

"I'm sorry," Ruffleslash mewed. "Ugh, I should've been there to help you! I'm going to talk to Blazestar right now so that I can resume being your men—"

"No, Ruffleslash, you need your rest," Screechpaw reasoned. "I'll be fine once Wingfeather puts some bandages on my head. And you need to get better."

His shoulders slumped slightly. "You sure?"

"Yes."

He puffed out a breath. "Alright. Fine. If you're sure."

Screechpaw bit her lip, chewing on it slightly. "I did, er, want to say something else though…."

Ruffleslash's ears perked up. "What?"

Screechpaw looked at the ground. "When I was fighting, I was up against this ShadowClan warrior, right? He was much better than me and was totally winning and I really needed help, anyone could see it. And Skyheart did. But she didn't do anything. She just smiled and walked away."

Ruffleslash frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"You sure you weren't imagining it?"

Screechpaw blinked in surprise. "Y-yeah. She just ignored me. Do you think there's any way I could get a different substitute mentor?"

Ruffleslash sighed. "No, I don't think so. Look, I know you don't like her, but I'm sure even she's reasonable enough to help someone in need. Your eyes were probably playing tricks on you or something."

Screechpaw narrowed her eyes. "Wha—no, Ruffleslash, I know what I saw. I know that she just left me to deal with Clawpelt all by myself, knowing fully that I wasn't going to start doing any better. I really don't want to have to be her apprentice for the next few days—"

"Aspenpaw," Ruffleslash meowed. "You were in the heat of the battle. You couldn't see things clearly – literally. I'm sure you're just imagining things, okay? So just, I don't know, put up with her for the next quarter moon and stop complaining. I'm sure she's not as bad as she seems. So leave it alone, okay? Please."

Screechpaw narrowed her eyes again, angry that her mentor refused to see reason, but she nodded stiffly.

"Good." Ruffleslash sighed, visibly relaxing. "Now let's get you to Wingfeather."

Screechpaw couldn't help but feel frustrated as she followed the dark ginger tom to the medicine cat's den, whipping her tail behind her angrily as she went.

 _Ugh. He doesn't know what he's talking about._

Yet as she disappeared into the den and was overtaken by the various scents of the herbs, she was able to console herself with a single thought, the thought that steadied her heart and brought peace to her mind:

 _It'll all be over soon. Soon, Ruffleslash will be my mentor again._

 _. . . ... . . ._

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2676 words. Nice :P**

 **BIG NEWS: I got an Instagram for fan fiction! My username is Whisperblaze_luvs_eikko so PLEASE be sure to go and follow and stuff! Yeah, you guys are the best!**

 **Again, I'll be updating as much as I possibly can for the next few days in apology for how stupid I am. Really, you guys, I am sorry. Don't hate me, I love you!**

 **At the end of my updating streak thing, I AM going to be going back to wanting a lot of reviews for an update, like more than the normal 30-40 amount this time around because of the amount of chapters that will have been posted, so yeah, still be sure to review and stuff.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE!**

 **QOTDT1) what would be a good warrior name for Screechpaw/Aspenpaw? (I already have the names chosen, but if there is one I like better, I will use that one instead!)**

 **QOTDT2) If you could choose one of these characters to die (Ruffleslash/Wolfpaw/Screechpaw), who would you kill and how? IT HAS TO BE ONE OF THESE CHARACTERS!**

 **QOTDT3) If you could choose one of these characters to turn evil (Ruffleslash/Wolfpaw/Screechpaw) who would it be and what would they do? IT HAS TO BE ONE OF THESE CHARACTERS!**

 **Ok thanks you guys! I'm sorry again! I'll try to update again tomorrow! I love you! Bye!**


	38. The End of Her Reign

**OK, I decided to do this thing where I put the amount of reviews I have so far at the beginning of each chapter so that I can go back and track the progress at different intervals. k, just needed to say that.**

 **Reviews: 775**

 **Here's the next chapter as promised! Enjoy it and be sure to review! PLEASE!**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 _"_ _I'm done with your lies. I'm done with your hatred. And I'm especially done with you, overall. So stay away from me. I'd like to say I'll miss you, but I don't want to sink to your level and lie."_

 _~Ruffleslash_

 _. . . ….. . . ._

Three sunrises after the fight at ShadowClan's border, Screechpaw woke from yet another one of her troubled dreams. This one had been no more or less pleasant than any of the others, but as usual, it was still enough to give her a chill of dread whenever she recalled it.

Yawning, she stuck her head out of the apprentices den, taking in the sight of the drowsy camp as she stretched. A few cats padded about in the light of sunrise, the rays falling gently on their heads.

Screechpaw finally ducked fully out of the den, scratching at her head in an attempt to wake herself up. _Just a few more days with_ her, she thought, trying to keep her hopes up. _Then it's back to training with Ruffleslash._

As she walked over to the fresh kill pile, Screechpaw heard an overly forced giggle coming from the medicine cat's den and turned to see the object of her resent. She was purring and blinking her large yellow eyes at the dark ginger and black tom, smiling and trying to keep his attention.

 _Ugh. Skyheart._

Screechpaw's substitute mentor had been absolutely awful so far. She'd threatened her, ignored her when she needed help in battle, and had just been plain difficult. She was the last cat Screechpaw would've wanted as a mentor and yet she'd been stuck with her.

Screechpaw grabbed a squirrel from the pile and settled down by the thorn barrier, chewing on the meat and trying to ignore the jealousy that was creeping into her mind as she thought of Skyheart and Ruffleslash together.

 _Dang it, Screechpaw! He doesn't even like her!_

A voice in her mind scoffed. _He likes her more than you._

 _Ah, Poolkit, I was wondering if you were going to show up._

 _Well, I'm here._

 _Yay._

 _Is that sarcasm I detect?_

 _NO._

 _Yes. Yes it is._

Screechpaw shifted on the ground, irritation pricking at her paws. Poolkit was usually tolerable, but today wasn't a good day for Screechpaw so far. She didn't need the extra annoyance and hassling from the kit, not now.

She watched Skyheart and Ruffleslash from afar, eyes narrowing as time went on. He didn't seem to be hating her company too much. Did he like her now or something? Had he _always_ liked her and Screechpaw just hadn't noticed it?

 _But I thought he despised her._

 _Obviously not, idiot._

Screechpaw blinked in shock as Ruffleslash smiled at something Skyheart had said and nodded. Maybe she'd been wrong. Maybe they really were a thing and she'd never noticed.

 _Wow._

Screechpaw shook her head, anger making her ears heat up. Why should she care? It's not like she liked Ruffleslash or anything. She liked Wolfpaw. Wolfpaw.

Thinking of the other tom made her heart stop racing and slowed her breathing. That's right, Wolfpaw. Wolfpaw. Why should she care about her stupid mentor when she had Wolfpaw?

Ruffleslash could like whoever he wanted, even mouse brains like Skyheart, if he felt like it. Why would Screechpaw care?

Standing up, Screechpaw went to dispose of her squirrel before padding up to Ruffleslash and Skyheart. "Hey, so are we going to go?" she asked the she-cat promptly.

The warrior seemed a bit taken aback by her suddenness, widening her eyes for a moment before letting out a puff of contempt. "Yeah, in a minute. I was just talking to Ruffleslash." She sighed as she said his name, as if it was the dreamiest word in the entire world. It probably was to her.

A thought popped into Screechpaw's mind. She remembered what Skyheart had snarled at her a few days ago, when she'd threatened her on their first day out. She'd growled, "Stay. Away. From Ruffleslash. Or else. He's mine."

Well, it was time to see what "or else" meant.

"So Ruffleslash," Screechpaw meowed, turning to her real mentor. "When do you think you'll be better?"

He shrugged, not seeming to have realized what she was doing. "Probably in the next day or two. I think I'm better now, but Wingfeather won't have any of it. She likes to be sure."

Screechpaw laughed. "Well, she is the medicine cat. I guess it's her job to be overly cautious, right?"

Ruffleslash grinned. "Yeah. I still can't believe she let you leave her den at all after the ShadowClan fight."

His apprentice gave a small shrug. "Eh, it really wasn't as bad as it looked. It was just a scratch, really."

"Oh, still," Skyheart meowed, butting in and giving Screechpaw a harsh glare. "One should always be careful to not get hurt when one can avoid it."

It couldn't have been clearer what she was implying.

But Screechpaw was playing dumb.

"Oh, I tried to avoid it," Screechpaw mewed, shrugging again. "But it is battle. It's impossible to go away from it totally unscathed. Unless you don't show up to the battle," she purred, nudging Ruffleslash. "You have anything to say about that, hmm?"

He rolled his eyes and smiled. "I would've been there had I been able to, but I was caught up in camp."

Screechpaw scoffed. "Sure, Ruffleslash, sure. You weren't just playing sick to get out of work."

His jaw dropped in pretend shock and hurt. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you're just faking this whole sick façade, that you're really absolutely fine. You could've been mentoring me for the past quarter moon but you were too lazy so you put on this whole persona to trick everyone."

Ruffleslash sighed dramatically. "Alas, you're right! It was all fake! And I would've gotten away with it had you not ruined everything! I'll get you for this, cat!"

The two burst out laughing, shaking their heads at their own idiocy. Skyheart just watched on, eyes narrowed and ears flat against her head. She was outraged at Screechpaw.

"Well," she meowed through tight lips. "If you're quite done, we've got to go and get some training done. Screechpaw, follow me. See you later, Ruffleslash!" she added in an overly sweet voice before she whipped around and bolted through the thorn tunnel.

Screechpaw smiled at Ruffleslash again, still laughing at their stupidity, before following Skyheart out into the forest. She padded after the scent trail of the she-cat, which led towards the training hollow. When she reached the sandy section of the forest, she shook out her pelt before jumping down into the hollow.

As soon as her forepaws hit the white, powdery ground, the rest of her body was thrown against the walls of the hollow by another cat. Screechpaw yowled in surprise as she hit the side, quickly getting to her paws and shaking her head to clear it of the cobwebs that shrouded it in darkness and shortsightedness.

Skyheart stood not two foxlengths away, hackles raised and bristling more than Screechpaw had thought possible. Her ears were pressed flat to her skull, eyes narrowed, lit up with the fire of a thousand storms. A low hiss escaped her jaws, shrieking at Screechpaw's ears as harshly as Skyheart's tail whipped through the air.

"You," she spat. "I _warned_ you, fox dung. I told you to stay away from Ruffleslash."

Screechpaw narrowed her eyes. "Skyheart, what's your deal? Why do you even hate me so much?"

"Because you took away Ruffleslash!" she snarled. "He was mine! Then you were assigned to him as an apprentice and stole him from me!"

With an angry screech, Skyheart leaped at the apprentice, crashing down on her and raking her claws over her face. Screechpaw yowled, bring her paws up to defend her face.

 _Remember your moves!_

Shaking her head, Screechpaw went on the offensive. She struck out, swiping blow after blow at Skyheart's face, slowly making the she-cat defend herself.

But Skyheart wasn't one to let the other cat have all the fun. She timed her movements perfectly so that she was able to jerk forward and catch one of Screechpaw's legs in her mouth, forcing it to the side and pulling up so that the apprentice's belly was exposed. With a jump and a twist of her body, she was able to swiftly kick the apprentice in her stomach, earning her a grunt of pain as the cat tumbled over in the sand.

Screechpaw got to her paws, glaring at Skyheart. "Skyheart, it's not my fault that Ruffleslash is my mentor! Besides, I don't understand why you couldn't just keep talking to him after he got an apprentice!"

Skyheart scraped the ground with her claws. "That's not how it works. As soon as he had something better to do, he stopped talking to me. He had to go off and train you, a better version of _me_!" She scoffed. "As if someone like that really existed."

"You don't think he stopped talking to you because you started acting like this?" Screechpaw meowed, motioning to the angry form of her adversary. "No one would want to hang around someone who acted so harsh and cruel!"

"I don't act like this, cat," she spat. "You don't know me. I only hate those who deserve it, and I make it clear when I don't like them."

 _That's for sure._

"But that's not the point," she continued. "The point is that I told you to stay away from Ruffleslash, but you ignored my warnings. Now, you're going to pay for it."

Skyheart bowled her over, biting at her ears while she held her off with her muscular limbs. Despite her attempts, Screechpaw was still much smaller than Skyheart, so she was kept down singularly by her size. She clawed at the she-cat as best she could, but her weight was too great for her to be thrown off of the much smaller cat.

Skyheart smirked down at Screechpaw, teeth glinting in the sunlight. "I told you that you shouldn't have messed with me. It just ends up worse for everyone. Well, everyone but me."

Suddenly, Skyheart was ripped from Screechpaw, her claws grasping some of her silver and black fur as she went, pulling out tufts of it. Screechpaw gasped as she stood, shaking out her pelt as she prepared herself to take on the larger she-cat yet again, but she didn't need to.

There stood Ruffleslash, pelt bristling in hostility as he faced Skyheart. He stood between the two cats, facing the warrior in case he needed to fight her in defense of his apprentice.

In that moment, Skyheart seemed to realize her fatal mistake. "Ruffleslash!" she purred happily, as if everything was normal. "What are you doing here?"

"I just dropped by, wanting to see your guys' training session," he growled, any friendliness gone from his voice. "But it seems I had to do something else: stop a warrior from attacking an apprentice."

Skyheart opened her jaws, but only silence escaped them for a long moment. "I…I can explain!"

Ruffleslash sat back, wrapping his tail over his paws. "Oh, please do. Please explain it to me, Skyheart."

She seemed to have to think about her answer for longer than what would be deemed necessary. "I, uh, we – we were just practicing. We were having a training battle."

"Mm, yeah," Ruffleslash said, tilting his head to the side in question and narrowing his eyes in question. "So let's pretend that that makes sense. If you guys were having a _practice_ battle, then why were your claws unsheathed?"

Skyheart swallowed. "So that it would be as real as possible…?" It sounded more like a question than a statement.

"You think that giving an apprentice very real wounds that will take days to heal is worth it? Yes, this all seems very 'real,' but I don't think it made sense in the long run, hmm?"

Skyheart shook her head, clearly done with being put in her place, wanting to change the subject. "Ruffleslash, I was just—"

The dark ginger and black tom held up a paw. "Stop, Skyheart. I heard what you said to Screechpaw, I'm not an idiot."

Skyheart was still trying to save face. "Okay, but I was right—"

"No," he growled. "You weren't right, Skyheart! You assume that I do things for stupid reasons, that all of my actions are driven by you, but that's not true. You can't just assume these kinds of things!"

Skyheart was clearly beginning to panic, seeing where things were heading. "Well, okay, but I thought that—"

Ruffleslash's laugh cut her off. "You thought – what? That attacking my apprentice would somehow make me think higher of you? That glaring at her would make me like you? Huh?"

Skyheart was silent, not having a good answer to any of the questions.

Ruffleslash shook his head. "I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, Skyheart. But you proved that I was wrong. You are just as bad as I thought you were. Beating up an apprentice? How low could you go?"

Skyheart found her voice. "I was just doing what I thought was right! I thought it was the only way to get you to like me!"

Ruffleslash glared at her. "Just stop. I'm done with your lies. I'm done with your hatred. And I'm especially done with you, overall. So stay away from me. And if you think you can hurt Screechpaw ever again, then you're sorely mistaken. Don't even try. Good bye, Skyheart. I'd like to say I'll miss you, but I don't want to sink to your level and lie."

He jerked his head towards the camp, motioning for Screechpaw to follow him. She jumped out of the hollow after him, leaving a fuming and heartbroken Skyheart behind in her wake.

Padding next to Ruffleslash, she was finally able to digest exactly what had happened. Ruffleslash had told Skyheart off. They were over. Skyheart couldn't do anything to Screechpaw that Ruffleslash wouldn't eventually find out about.

Screechpaw cleared her throat. "Thank you."

He shrugged. "I should have believed you about the battle a few days ago. I guess I thought that maybe she wasn't all bad."

There was a moment of silence before Screechpaw spoke again. "So, uh, will you be back to being my mentor again tomorrow?"

He smiled down at her, all signs of his previous hostility gone. "Who says we have to wait until tomorrow? Come on, let's go catch a squirrel."

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2387 words. Kind of short, but it works**

 **Please go and follow my fanfiction account on Instagram! The account is whisperblaze_luvs_eikko! I follow back :P**

 **Big news: Screechpaw is almost a warrior! By the end of this week, she'll have her warrior name! Aren't you guys excited?!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE!**

 **QOTDT1) what character in thunderclan seems to be hiding the biggest secret? What is the secret that they're hiding? (this could be a legit guess that you think or a fake one that you wish was real)**

 **QOTDT2) What warriors fanfiction do you think is the best (on fanfiction)? I'd like to read some of your favorites and see the sort of styles the authors write in so that I can get better! XD**

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 **Luv ya!**


	39. Hope

**Does anyone other than me know what today is? No? No one? OK, I'll tell you…**

 **IT'S THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS STORY! YAYYYYY! *confetti flying through the air, cake, presents, other random party things***

 **That's right, one year ago today was when I posted the very first chapter of The Aspen's Screech. 365 days and 788 reviews later, here we are on the one-year-iversary and I couldn't have done it without any of you! Thank you so much to every single one of you, especially all those who have followed, favorited, and constantly reviewed! Without you guys, I wouldn't have gotten this far! Several times in the first month of this story's existence, I was close to giving up on it because of how little it was getting read, but you all showed up and lit up my life! Thank you so much for all you've done! I can't even tell you how happy you have all made me for the past year!**

 **What do you say, you want to put in another good year? Let's shoot to keep this story going for at least another 365 days! XD After that, we'll see where the road takes us ;) but seriously, thank you to every single one of you out there reading this right now! I love you all and could never have gotten this far without you! You are what makes me love this series and this story so much! I couldn't do it without you!**

 **Now, here's your chapter, the 39** **th** **one! (I still can't believe we've made it this far! Love you all!)**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 _"_ _So he would wait for her. Wait for her to come to her senses. Wait for the stars to fall from the sky and wait for the sun to burn out. He'd wait for the rivers to dry up and wait for the black of the night sky to turn white with age. And all the while, he'd hope."_

 _~Ruffleslash, thinking_

 **. . . ….. . . .**

"That's right. A mock assessment."

Ruffleslash needed to repeat what he'd said for the words to fully process in Screechpaw's mind. She should've seen it coming, of course, but the time had just seemed to have flown by. Yes, it was leaffall now, and yes, she was five and a half moons into her apprenticeship, but the fact that she was almost a warrior came to her as a shock. Shouldn't she still be a young apprentice, barely out of the nest?

Apparently not.

"So, uh…" Screechpaw mewed, fluffing up her pelt as a cold breeze drifted by. "What do I do?"

"Well," Ruffleslash started, sucking at his teeth. "The protocol for the real assessment is that you catch at least one mouse, one squirrel, and one bird. So I guess the reasonable and logical thing to do would have you catch those three things. Right?" he added with a purr.

Screechpaw shrugged. "You're the boss."

Ruffleslash smiled. "Alright then. You head out and get started and I'll be on your trail soon. Don't stress. It's just practice."

Screechpaw nodded and got to her paws, leaving her mentor behind to sit in the ThunderClan camp while she ran through the thorn tunnel. She took a deep breath as she burst into the forest, setting her paws towards the Great Oak.

 _If I have to catch a squirrel, I might as well go there. That makes the most sense to me._

 _Just try not to think about all of the bad memories you've made there in the past few moons._

 _Ughhh…._

Screechpaw screwed closed her eyes, shaking her head to try to remove the bad thoughts. But now that Poolkit had brought them up, it was almost impossible to banish them from her mind. It was true, the Great Oak didn't exactly hold her happiest memories in its branches and leaves. In fact, it was almost a symbol of the hard times of her life. But sometimes, to get over the hardships one goes through, one must face their difficulties head on and bear through the bad memories as if they never happened.

Finding a squirrel at the Great Oak was easier than Screechpaw had thought it would be. Within fifteen minutes, she'd already caught her prey and moved on to her next target after burying the furry animal by the roots of the tree.

 _That wasn't so bad. Next up…mouse._

Screechpaw huffed out a breath, smiling. Catching a mouse would be a joke; they were the easiest of anything in the forest and could be found just about anywhere.

And since they were everywhere, Screechpaw decided that it wouldn't hurt to check over by WindClan. After all, she might see more than just the mouse, a certain tom, if she was lucky.

The silver and black tabby apprentice purred as she leapt over log after log, delighted at the thought of seeing Wolfpaw. Deep in her mind, she knew she was being foolish, but even Poolkit's harsh words wouldn't talk sense into her.

 _You foolish cat. It's not like you can talk to him during the day._

 _Says who?_

 _Uh, anyone who sees you two. Duh._

 _True. But who says that anyone will see us?_

 _You've got me there, genius. It's only the middle of the day when loads of cats are out on patrols, checking borders, and hunting. Oh, not to mention that your own mentor is watching you very very closely. To your own knowledge, might I add._

 _Oh…yeah, that's true._

 _Idiot._

Screechpaw sighed as she came to a halt by the WindClan border. Poolkit was right, of course. If Screechpaw was a reasonable cat, she'd turn around now and go catch her mouse somewhere else.

But at the moment, the apprentice was anything but reasonable. Despite Poolkit's warnings, she stuck around by the enemy clan's border, even after successfully catching and burying her mouse to come back and pick up later.

 _I could always pick up a bird here, too._

 _You stupid, stupid rabbit brain._

Screechpaw's ears perked up at the sound of a bird call in the distance, not too far away from what she could hear. Yet her attention was stolen away from the animal as a different sound met her ears, pulling her gaze away from the forest and across to the moors, lighting up her face as she saw who it was.

And in the blink of an eye, Screechpaw forgot all about Poolkit's warnings.

All of them.

Wolfpaw slunk away from Thornstar and a few other WindClan cats, grinning as he came to see Screechpaw face to face. Though they were on opposite sides of the river, each could see the excitement and desire in the other's eyes.

"Hey," Wolfpaw purred. "Small world, isn't it?"

"It sure is," Screechpaw laughed, wishing she wasn't so far away from him.

Wolfpaw had really grown in the past few moons, along with his brother, of course. The two of them were as far away from becoming warriors as Screechpaw was, but they seemed to look like they'd been warriors for moons now. Any outsider looking at them would guess them to be moons older than they actually were, what with their staggering height and rippling muscles. Wolfpaw especially had really grown into his looks, becoming quite the looker with the sporting of his grey and brown tabby coat, silver paws and ears, and enticing blue eyes.

Screechpaw wasn't so bad either, she supposed, but she still thought of herself as mediocre at best. Her ratty pelt hadn't improved much from her lower days at the beginning of her apprenticeship. Her eyes still tended to have that wild look about them, especially whenever they changed from blue green to yellow, and her face was scarred with the stories of a thousand generations, a face that should've belonged to a cat much older than she.

But she had grown taller and stronger. Had she needed to fight Skyheart at that moment, it would've been a much fairer fight. In fact, if Screechpaw were to go up against anyone in the clans, size would no longer be a contributing factor. She looked and fought like a warrior now.

"So, how are things?" Wolfpaw asked, being sure to stay down so that his mentor wouldn't see him if he looked over.

"Good," Screechpaw meowed, licking her paw and drawing it over her ears. "I'm going to be having my assessment in the next half moon or so."

"Same here. I'm more excited than I can even say! Spikepaw on the other hand…" Wolfpaw shrugged. "Well, I'm sure he's ecstatic, too, but it's hard to tell anymore."

"Yeah," Screechpaw sighed. "Tell him I say hi and that I miss him. I haven't seen him in—what? A moon or so?"

"Must be something like that." Wolfpaw flicked his ears. "Don't take it personally. Trust me, he's just been focusing on training and stuff. He's really got his eyes set on impressing Nettlesting and Thornstar. He wants to do really well on the assessment."

"Okay," Screechpaw meowed, nodding. "That makes sense. Tell him I wish him good—"

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Everything went wrong with those six words.

Screechpaw whipped around at the sound of her mentor's angry growl, but was surprised to see that he wasn't directing the words at her, but at Wolfpaw. The WindClan apprentice had realized this, too, standing at his full height and puffing out his fur.

"What makes you think you can talk to my apprentice?" Ruffleslash snarled, pushing Screechpaw behind him with his tail.

"I was just telling her to stay away from the border," Wolfpaw growled back, lashing his tail.

"Really?" Ruffleslash snorted. "You seemed to be very friendly for telling her to stay away."

"What, so you think you can tell me how to tell someone off? You don't even know me, you can't tell me what to do!"

Screechpaw's ears started heating up as their conversation escalated. Both cats were at the edge of the river, pelts fluffed out to twice their normal sizes. Ruffleslash and Wolfpaw glared daggers at each other, fire lighting up their eyes as they stared, hatred showing as clearly on their faces as if they had just said it out loud.

And there seemed to be a certain tension hanging in the air, an unspoken one that related to something more than just a border skirmish. This wasn't about the border. This was about much more and both toms seemed to know it.

"Stay away from her," Ruffleslash snapped. "You have no right to talk to any cat in ThunderClan."

"I'll talk to whomever I want," Wolfpaw countered, taking a step forward so that he was almost in the water. "Some ThunderClan cat like yourself can't tell me what to do."

"You'll have to deal with me if I catch you talking to another of my clanmates." Ruffleslash was bristling now, as was Wolfpaw. "Especially my apprentice."

"And what are you going to do?"

"Anything I need to to keep her safe, you heap of fox dung."

"Oh, I'm _sooooo_ scared," Wolfpaw mewed, pretending to shiver in fright. "What are you going to do, throw a mouse at me?"

Ruffleslash took a step forward, eyes narrowing to slits in his fury. "Why don't you come over here and say that?"

"I might just do that!"

"Oh, please do," a new voice growled. "Let's see how my apprentice fares up against a ThunderClan warrior."

Thornstar stepped out from the tall grasses of the moor, excitement shining in his gaze. He did a once over of the cats on the other side of the border, recognition showing on his face.

"Oh, I remember you!" he exclaimed, overly excited. "You're Screechy's mentor. Hi, Screehkit!" he mewed to Screechpaw, acknowledging her dramatically. "Long time no see."

Screechpaw snarled, opening her jaws to growl out a quick retort, but Ruffleslash slapped his tail over her jaws before she could manage anything. "Not a word," he hissed to her.

"Thornstar," he growled, directing his attention back to the cats on WindClan's side of the border. "I was just telling your apprentice a thing or two about talking to other clans. You should really follow up on that lesson."

"Oh really?" Thornstar meowed. "Wolfpaw, what exactly did you say?"

The apprentice growled, looking at the ground. "I was just telling Screechpaw that she shouldn't be so near the border. It looked as if she was going to cross it."

That stung Screechpaw. Yes, she knew that Wolfpaw couldn't tell his mentor that they were having a nice chat or anything, but he was making her sound like an incompetent idiot.

"I was _not_ going to cross it—" She was cut off by Ruffleslash's tail again.

"Well, Ruffleslash," Thornstar meowed. "I can see no fault in him saying that."

"I can assure you, he was not saying anything relating to border crossings," Ruffleslash growled. "You'd better watch him."

Thornstar was done with his happy-go-lucky act. His amber eyes quickly narrowed into slits of pure anger. "No, you'd better watch what you sat, cat. I think I know how to train my apprentice. I don't need ThunderClan scum like yourself telling me my faults. You're lucky I don't teach you a lesson for your foolishness."

Ruffleslash puffed out his chest, staring at Thornstar head on. "Come on, then. I'm not afraid of you. I know what I'm talking about and I'm prepared to defend it."

From both sides of the river, the two apprentices made eye contact. In her blue green orbs and his blue ones, wariness and fear shone identically. Neither cat wanted to see their mentor get into a scuffle. While they were both confident that their mentor would win, they didn't want to see them fight for a reason as stupid as this one.

They should've been more cautious about talking. Screechpaw shouldn't have ignored her common sense and Poolkit warning her about her stupidity. But she had and now here they were.

"Ruffleslash," Screechpaw hissed, unable to bite her tongue any longer. "Ruffleslash, see reason. Don't do this. Stay calm, I'm sorry, it was no big deal. Please."

He looked away from Thornstar and into her eyes. Instantly, his emerald eyes turned from furious and fiery to caring and understanding. Seeing his apprentice so desperate as she pleaded knocked some sense into him, making him shake his head to clear it.

Screechpaw sighed in relief as she saw Ruffleslash take a deep breath, the fur on his back beginning to flatten. Looking across the river, she saw that Wolfpaw had talked to Thornstar, too, and he'd seemed to calm down, if only infinitesimally.

Ruffleslash took another deep breath before speaking again. "I apologize, Thornstar." He dipped his head. "I'll make sure that my apprentice knows not to unnecessarily get so close to the border."

Thornstar nodded once, but he wasn't going to reciprocate Ruffleslash's action and apologize. "Make sure that you do. We wouldn't want any unneeded fights, now, would we?" The glint in his eyes revealed that that was exactly what he wanted.

"No, we wouldn't," Ruffleslash agreed as he turned away, beckoning to Screechpaw to follow him.

"Oh, one more thing," Thornstar growled to the ThunderClan cats as they turned back to him. "Ruffleslash—be sure to remember what I said to you almost six moons ago: I could kill you in the blink of an eye. Don't try me. It wouldn't end well for you at all."

And with a flick of his tail and the swish of the moorland grasses, the WindClan leader and his apprentice were gone.

. . . ….. . . .

 _How could she?_

Ruffleslash was padding through the forest, heading back towards the camp with Aspenpaw by his side. They walked in silence, neither one of them willing to break it anytime soon.

 _How could she?_

 _I knew she and that WindClan tom were a thing, but until now…_

 _I don't know, I guess I was hoping it wasn't for real._

 _I guess it is._

 _But how could she?_

Ruffleslash glanced over at Aspenpaw. Her face was downcast in what was obviously guilt. She knew she'd messed up.

 _Yeah. She did._

 _Why do I even hope?_

It had been clear to Ruffleslash that Aspenpaw and that WindClan apprentice—Wolfpaw?—were having a friendly conversation. Too friendly. Overly friendly, even for two cats had they been in the same clan.

 _Should I talk to her about it?_

 _No, she'd only push me farther away._

It hurt Ruffleslash that she would do something like that, go behind his back and the clan's back for someone like Wolfpaw. He seemed stuck up and proud, someone who would end up hurting Aspenpaw in the long run.

 _How could she?_

Ruffleslash opened his mouth to say something, But Aspenpaw spoke before he could utter a syllable. "Sorry."

They walked on for a long moment before Ruffleslash replied. "It's alright…it's not your fault that he thought you were crossing the border."

Ruffleslash could sense her shock the moment he said the words, and to be honest, he was shocked with himself as well. So he was going to play it off this way, make it seem like he thought Aspenpaw and Wolfpaw weren't friends, though they obviously were?

 _I guess so._

Okay, that made sense. Ruffleslash would make it seem like he thought the two apprentices were enemies, two different cats from two different clans who didn't know each other. They didn't talk, didn't acknowledge each other, and hated each other, even. All because they got into a little fight at the border one day.

 _Why don't I just tell her I know about them?_

Ruffleslash thought on that one. If he told Aspenpaw that he knew she and Wolfpaw liked each other…then where did he go from there? If he didn't tell the clan about it—which he would never in a million moons do—then Aspenpaw would think he approved and keep seeing Wolfpaw.

Oh, Ruffleslash wished he would, could tell the clan, but he wouldn't, couldn't. Aspenpaw would hate him forever. And he couldn't live with that.

No, Ruffleslash would pretend he didn't know. Instead, he'd sit by and hope.

 _Hope._

 _Hope is the only thing stronger than fear, stronger than impatience, stronger than anger._

 _Hope is my greatest weapon right now._

 _I'd be darned to not use it to my advantage._

Yes, Ruffleslash would hope. Not that that's all he'd be doing, sitting around and hoping, but he'd hope. He'd take action, of course, but never would he stop hoping.

So he would wait for her. Wait for her to come to her senses. Wait for the stars to fall from the sky and wait for the sun to burn out. He'd wait for the rivers to dry up and wait for the black of the night sky to turn white with age.

And all the while, he'd hope.

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2829 words. More than I expected XD**

 **Be sure to follow me on Instagram! My account name is whisperblaze_luvs_eikko! I follow back! XD**

 **Also, I FINALLY updated the summary! I know, that only took a year XD anyways, I think it works! If u think anything should be changed or written in a different way, leave it in a review! Thnx!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE!**

 **QOTDT1) Based on THIS CHAPTER ALONE, do you like Wolfpaw of Ruffleslash more? Why?**

 **QOTDT2) what character do you think should be focused on more? This could be any character who you think needs more time in the spotlight so to say XD**

 **QOTDT3) as a one year anniversary of this story, I'm going to have this qotdt be like a reflection question: which chapter of TA'sS, any one through chapters 1-39, is your favorite? Which is your least favorite?**

 **Ok thank you for reading! I'll probably give you guys one or two more chapters in the next few days before I go back to the normal updating schedule, where it's based off of reviews. SO BE SURE TO REVIEW SO THAT THE WAIT TIME IS SHORTER!**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I love you all! Thanks for reading, you're the best readers in the entire world, I truly believe it! Bye!**


	40. The Thought

**Sorry. I'm not even going to try to say anything more because I know it would be pointless, you all will probably hate me no matter what I say.**

 **Well…here you go I guess. Try not to destroy me in the reviews, please, I am still a person.**

 **Reviews: 812**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 _"…_ _she couldn't stop thinking about him. And she hated herself for it.…But at the same time…she couldn't help but feel light at the thought of him."_

 _~Screechpaw, thinking_

 _. . . ….. . . ._

"Come on, I need to show you something."

Screechpaw purred as she followed Wolfpaw through the forest, admiring the smoothness of his fur and the way his muscles shifted as he walked so confidently. The moonlight fell across his brown and grey pelt, turning it to silver and black. His eyes gleamed their bright blue as he looked back at her, excitement and affection as clear as the sky on a cloudless night.

 _Who'd have thought,_ Screechpaw wondered, _that I'd ever grow to like him as much as I do._

Certainly not her. She had never predicted it.

And yet here they were, sneaking out of their camps as they so often did these days. But to Screechpaw, no amount of times was enough to satisfy her.

It was three days after Screechpaw had last seen Wolfpaw, at the border where they had narrowly avoided a border skirmish. Since then, Screechpaw had been walking lightly around her mentor, but he didn't seem to care much about the event. At least he didn't let any worries that he had show through his thick pelt.

An image of Ruffleslash flashed in her mind for a split second, staring into her soul with his piercing green eyes. It was barely there, and yet it was enough for Screechpaw's stomach to leap into her throat. The thought of her mentor catching her sneaking out terrified her, but not just because it'd mean she'd be in trouble. Would he stop her from seeing Wolfpaw? What would she do?

…What would _he_ think?

Screechpaw wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer. It could be anything, from her point of view at least. And every single ending to the scenario left some part of her sad for some reason.

The black and silver tabby apprentice shook her head violently, banishing the thoughts from her head. _Don't think like that._

 _Why not? I quite enjoy listening to your inner battles. They are my only form of entertainment, after all._

 _Because I've made my choice, haven't I?_

 _Ha! You say that as if Ruffleslash ever even liked you._

 _Well…well it doesn't matter either way because whether or not he did, I never liked him._

 _Mhmm. Tell me, Screech, who exactly are you trying to convince here?_

 _Honestly, both of us…_

 _Well it ain't workin', hon'._

 _Shut up._

 _Just trying to diffuse the tension._

 _Ugh._

Wolfpaw looked over his shoulder at her, purring. Screechpaw smiled back, taking a few leaps to catch up with him. They strode, side by side, through the night, matching each pawstep for pawstep.

"Where are we going?" Screechpaw mewed, her tail waving back and forth as they walked.

"You'll see," Wolfpaw answered, eyes narrowing playfully as he refused to give her an answer.

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"Because it would ruin the surprise."

They walked on in silence, a comfortable one. Not awkward or stifling, but pleasant and comforting. They padded, enjoying the feel of each other's pelts beside their own, loving the wind as it whipped through their fur. The forest passed by them silently, watching their every movement and sighing quietly, in awe of the apprentices and whatever it was that they were sharing.

 _I'm not sure what we have._

 _Is it love?_

 _We_ are _only apprentices, though._

 _And I'm not even sure what love is, to be frank._

 _I know that Glacierfire and my siblings love me, of course._

 _But what is it like from someone who isn't my family?_

 _I don't know._

 _I don't know if I'll ever know._

 _I hope._

 _But I suppose it's best to not expect things that may never come._

Despite her common sense attempting to muffle her happiness, she couldn't help but think this was real, what she and Wolfpaw had. They were in love, and if not that, then greatly in like.

She still didn't know.

But a nagging doubt in the back of her mind was telling Screechpaw that this wasn't what she wanted, that she craved another. The silver and black apprentice flicked her tail in annoyance, trying to rid the worrisome thought from her head, but the more she resisted, the more prominent it became. It refused to be overlooked so easily.

The thought, with its emerald eyes and pelt the color of a darkened sun, demanded attention. It was a thought that never ceased to get her heart pumping and make her brain jumbled and confused.

The thought brought about a much different reaction from Screechpaw than when she was with Wolfpaw. When she was with the WindClan tom, she could breathe, could make a fool out of herself without worrying, could be relaxed. Surely that made sense, they were the best of friends, and more than that, right?

But with the other tom, the thought that wouldn't let her be…it was…different. Her heart would beat fast, she would think for ages of what to say so that she wouldn't sound like an idiot, and she couldn't seem to stop thinking about him….

 _Stop thinking about him!_

 _I can't!_

 _I'm trying, believe me, I am…_

 _But it's not working!_

The real question was which reaction meant what she had expected them both to mean? She liked Wolfpaw, she was sure of it, but how she acted around him…did that mean she liked him _more_ than the other tom or not?

No, she was lying to herself. She didn't like the ThunderClan tom. She couldn't. It wouldn't work out, he'd never like her.

But what if her nagging suspicions, her _hopes_ were right?

No.

They couldn't be.

She wouldn't let herself hope to have it all come crashing down on her.

She was shaken from her thoughts as Wolfpaw nudged her with his shoulder, grinning fondly down at her. "We're here."

Screechpaw gasped as she took in the sight in front of her. (She hadn't been searching for anything as they'd walked, for she'd been lost in thought.) A great cave loomed in front of her, hidden away on a hill with trees sticking out of it like the whiskers on a cat.

Padding inside, Screechpaw turned as her blue green eyes widened at the awe-inspiring sight. Stalagmites and stalactites crowded the cave, glittering slightly in the moonlight. The ground sloped downwards on the left side, but upwards on the right so that a solid cliff seemed to be dividing the cavern in half. On the left, a trickle of water coming from a corner formed a dazzling pool which created a tinkling sound as it danced beneath the high ceiling. At the height of the cave, a hole the size of a cat allowed just enough light to show, illuminating the cave, but keeping the mystery of the scene alive.

Wolfpaw cautiously and slowly padded to Screechpaw's side. "…Well?" he asked nervously. "What…what do you think?"

"I…I…" Screechpaw stammered, lost for words as she took in the beauty of the glorious place in which she stood. "I…I love it! Words can't express what I think of this! How did you find it?"

Wolfpaw grinned. "Well, I wanted to find another place for us to meet. Don't get me wrong, I love the river as much as the next guy, but I feel like we should have somewhere more…special."

Screechpaw purred, snuggling up next to the tom, pressing her face into his neck fur. "I agree. Anyone can have the river. But this place is ours, and ours alone."

And so the two explored the cave more in depth, side by side, tails twined all the way. It was beautiful. Amazing. Magnificent.

Yet…

Screechpaw could not fully appreciate it, not with the sudden guilt and worry that filled her. The thought wasn't leaving her. She urged it to leave her be, but it wasn't.

She felt awful about it. After all, she was with Wolfpaw, and henceforth should be concentrating on him.

But her mind, apparently, had other ideas.

And she couldn't stop thinking about _him._

And she hated herself for it.

…But at the same time…

She couldn't help but feel light at the thought of him.

 _Oh no._

 _This will lead nowhere good._

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1356 words. Meh…..**

 **I hate myself. Please don't kill me.**

 **QOTDT1) how much do you hate me for being gone for so long? Like on a scale from 1-10, 1 being "NO I STILL LOVE YOU YOU'RE HUMAN YOU MUST HAVE A LIFE AND SCHOOL AND OTHER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT," and 10 being "Go burn in hell, you (insert swear word here)."**

 **QOTDT2) What's the best and worst quality about any character in TAS? You pick who.**

 **Sorry again. Love you lots, I really do**

 **I'll update again when I get 25 reviews in all. I ALREADY HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTER WRITTEN SO THIS IS A FOR SURE THING I SWEAR XD**


	41. The Assessment

**Here's another one. FORGIVE ME PLS**

 **Reviews: 825**

 ** _. . . ….. . . ._**

 _"…_ _it settled his heart, reminding him of her blue green eyes, imperfect perfections, and silky fur. He wished she could be with him now, pressing against him in comfort. She would put his worries to ease later, him doing the same for her, when they were both warriors."_

 _~Wolfpaw, thinking_

. . . ….. . . .

The weather matched the mood on the moor that day: gloomy, stressful, quiet though it was a sign that the storm was to come. The clouds overhead looked upon the grassy hills in a hostile manner, glaring down with its grey eyes. Four cats waited on a mound silently, sitting so that the two youngest faced their mentors. The wind whipped their fur, making them shiver despite the fact that it was still greenleaf, though it was quickly drawing to a close.

Thornstar surveyed the brothers through his narrowed eyes, a snarl plastered on his muzzle. "If you fail," he started lowly, "then these past moons will have been useless. It won't be my fault. This is on you. The both of you. But don't mess up. Don't put yourselves to shame. Go."

With the single word, the two brothers turned tail and fled, dashing up the hill in a series of desperate bounds. Wolfpaw looked across his shoulder at Spikepaw, whose eyes were looking forward in a determined gaze. It set Wolfpaw on edge.

"Good luck," he managed.

Spikepaw said nothing, just nodded firmly once and ran off to the left, away from his sighing brother.

 _Don't think too much of it. He's just stressed, like me. He'll come around._

Shaking his head to clear it, Wolfpaw bolted to the right, towards the ThunderClan border. Just the sight of the river and the trees beyond it settled his heart, reminding him of her blue green eyes, imperfect perfections, and silky fur. He wished she could be with him now, pressing against him in comfort. She would put his worries to ease later, him doing the same for her, when they were both warriors.

 _Warriors._

The word filled Wolfpaw with excitement and energy, so much that his legs were filled anew with power and vigor, pushing him onwards and increasing his speed by tenfold. He breathed in the air as it rushed through his pelt and lungs, reminding him gently of how much he loved to simply _run._

Yes, by this time tomorrow, he would be a warrior.

But for now, he had a task to partake in.

Slowing to a pad, Wolfpaw sank closer to the ground so that his grey and brown pelt would be less visible on the yellow and green moor. His ears twitched as they strained to hear any sign of movement, his eyes doing the same as they darted fiercely.

 _Come on, rabbit…show yourself…._

And as if summoned by the words Wolfpaw had been thinking, two large ears perked above a hillock five fox lengths away from the waiting tom. Wolfpaw smiled, licking his muzzle; he could already taste the blood of his victim.

He prowled forward quietly for a few foxlengths, knowing that the rabbit would sense him if he darted forward from too far away too quickly. When he was finally two foxlengths away, he gave a stupendous leap, his hind legs propelling him forward, and the chase gave way. The rabbit, who had given a squeak of combined fear and surprise and whose eyes had grown to three times their size, sprung away from its adversary. The predator wouldn't be shaken off so easily, though, and pursued the creature with ease. He was confident that his powerful muscles and sleek form would allow him to catch the prey.

And soon, he did. Giving a few more powerful leaps, Wolfpaw was even with the rabbit and jumped on it, ending its misery with a bite to the throat. He stood up, having to keep his head high so that the rabbit wouldn't drag on the ground. He felt a sense of pride spread through him as he buried it quickly, his previous worry and stress melting away slightly under the silver sun.

He could do this.

. . . ….. . . .

They were at the training area. They sat on the flat expanse of ground, the two cats, one mentor, one apprentice, waiting for the others to arrive. The older of the two growled angrily, his amber eyes glinting maliciously as his tail flicked in annoyance. He didn't like to be kept waiting.

"Where are those rabbit brains?" he snarled eventually, pacing back and forth as he unsheathed and sheathed his claws in irritation. "They should be back by now."

"I'm sure they won't be long," Wolfpaw said quietly, shooting a glance at the two fat rabbits that lay next to him, deceased. Where could his brother be? Was his assessment going badly?

"Well if they aren't here in the next minute, then I'd have to consider not making Spikepaw a warrior."

A stab of fear went through Wolfpaw's chest, but it was immediately replaced with relief as he saw the form of his brother heaving himself towards the training area, the rabbits he was carrying weighing him down. As he finally reached them, flopping his prey down as he did so, his own mentor, Nettlesting, went to go sit by Thornstar.

"That took too long," the WindClan leader growled.

"Sorry," Spikepaw panted. "I caught both rabbits over by the RiverClan border. It took a while to get them back here."

"Whatever," Thornstar said, rolling his eyes. "You're lucky I've decided to overlook this. I was debating having you stay an apprentice for a few more moons for your lack of succinctness."

Spikepaw and Wolfpaw exchanged glances of fear.

Thornstar continued. "But no matter. You're here to complete the second part of your assessment, obviously. You are both to fight each other until we say to stop. Show what we've taught you these past moons and you will pass. Fail to do so and the outcome will prove to turn out quite different."

With a nod of his brown tabby head, Thornstar meant for them to start. Per usual, the two brothers began to circle each other, eyes narrowing as they each tried to work out what they wanted to do.

With a shriek, Spikepaw leapt at his brother, heading straight at him. Wolfpaw readied himself, then took one step to the left half a second before his brother crashed into him. But Spikepaw saw this coming, turning so that he ran into Wolfpaw, bowling the both of them over.

When they'd stopped rolling, Spikepaw was on top. Using his height to his advantage, he pummeled Wolfpaw's belly with his hind legs, causing a sharp pain to run through his body. With a yowl, Wolfpaw kicked Spikepaw off him and shook the dirt from his pelt.

Wolfpaw ran at Spikepaw, swiping his sheathed paws down his face, lashing and kicking out at his shoulder. The golden and brown tom dodged the blow, instead jumping over his head, twisting in midair, and landing on Wolfpaw's back.

Instantly, Wolfpaw dropped to his belly and rolled, feeling a burst of confidence as he heard a slight _oomph_ from his brother as he rolled over him. Before he could get to his paws again, Wolfpaw jumped on him and was aiming to scratch at his face, but Spikepaw acted too fast, swiping his paws out from under him with a well-aimed paw.

As the two got to their paws, Wolfpaw saw a flash of anger in Spikepaw's eyes, his frustration showing through his ruffled pelt. He snarled at his brother and swiped at the ground. Wolfpaw swallowed nervously, a sense of foreboding stabbing through him.

This couldn't be good.

Shoving his misgivings away from him, he focused on the task at hand. He sprung at his brother, deciding to go on the offensive this time, but was immediately flung back as Spikepaw turned around, balanced on his fore paws, and kicked out viciously.

Wolfpaw twisted in midair so that he landed on his paws, but was bombarded directly afterwards as a series of paw swipes rained down on him. At first, as Wolfpaw battled them off, he noticed no difference to the ones he'd fought off before, but as a particularly well aimed one caught him on the paw and a shot of pain went up his leg, he noticed with horror that his brother had his claws unsheathed.

"Spikepaw—" he grunted as he ducked beneath a flung-out paw. "Spikepaw, what are you—"

Wolfpaw was cut off by his own yowl of pain as a large scratch was made in his neck. Spikepaw kicked out at him, using his surprise to his advantage, sending him toppling over. Spikepaw jumped on top, digging his claws into Wolfpaw's shoulders, sending beads of blood falling to the floor. Lifting one paw, he swung down to rip into his brother again, but was stopped by a dark tabby tail.

"That's enough," Thornstar meowed lowly.

 _Thank StarClan,_ Wolfpaw thought as he struggled to his paws, dabbing at his neck to find blood. He throbbed from the laceration, aching from wherever he was cut from his brother's claws. He was still in shock that his brother had resorted to unsheathed claws.

 _Thornstar will set him right. He knew he shouldn't have used his claws._

Thornstar looked down at both of them, eyes narrowed as they so often were. After a long moment, he finally spoke:

"Good job, Spikepaw."

Both apprentices' eyes widened. Neither had expected Spikepaw to be complimented.

 _What?! How could—but—come on!_

"It was wise to use your claws to win. Good thinking." The dark leader turned to his own apprentice, glowering down at him. "You'd do well to be like him next time. Sheathed claws don't win battles. I'm disappointed in you."

Wolfpaw lowered his head, though he felt no shame, only anger at his brother and leader. Was it so bad that he wanted to stay humane and logical during his assessment? Hurting his brother would help no one, only damage his kin and clan alike!

"But," Thornstar continued, looking angry as he did so. "You both did the necessary, so you both will become warriors. Though only one of you truly deserves it."

With that, he flicked his tail and bounded down towards the camp, Nettlesting following, leaving the two brothers behind.

Wolfpaw refused to look at Spikepaw, hurt beyond words. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his brother looking at him, clearly debating about saying something, but decided against it.

So the two padded back to the camp in silence, the excitement of becoming a warrior slightly dampened by the recent events and the rain that had finally begun to fall.

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1743 words. I'll take it.**

 **In two chapters, Screechpaw, her siblings, and Batpaw FINALLY have their warrior ceremonies. I know, took long enough XD anyways, almost immediately afterwards is one of the biggest shocks in the ENTIRE story. Trust me, you don't want to miss it, it's great. I'm so excited to see how you guys react to it oml I can't wait XD**

 **DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE!**

 **QOTDT1) what do you think about Spikepaw? Is he actually nice but makes rash decisions or is it something else?**

 **QOTDT2) which of these characters (Aspenpaw, Whiskerpaw, Shinepaw, Batpaw, Wolfpaw, Spikepaw) should have mates and who should they be?**

 **QOTDT3) if you celebrate Christmas, what did you get?**

 **QOTDT4) new years resolution? XD**

 **Ok I hope you enjoyed the chappie! BIIIIIIIIIIIIIG stuff is about to happen! HUGE!**

 **I'll update again when I get 25-30 reviews in all**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Love you lots! Byeeee!**


	42. Eyes of Death

**Guess what? ITS MY BDAY ON WEDNESDAY! YASSSSSS! Turning 15, finally XD**

 **And to answer your questions, for Christmas, I got a suitcase, a grumpy cat poster, some paintbrushes, a Simpsons dvd, a painting, and a laptop. My new years resolution…I guess to swear less because I do it quite profusely XD I know, I'm a terrible person.**

 **Lastly, HUGE shoutout to Skyleaf12 for reviewing like all of the chapters! THANK YOU! ;)**

 **Anyways, on to the story! I think you'll enjoy this chapter…MWAHAHAHAAHHA! ;)**

 **Reviews: 867**

 _. . . ….. . . ._

 _"_ _[What had just happened] was engraved there, never fading, never leaving, always present. She shook unceasingly as she bawled, wishing with all of her heart and mind that she could just be_ normal _."_

 _~Screechpaw, thinking_

. . . ….. . . .

It was a good day. Screechpaw knew it.

Yes, the clouds hung heavily in the air, trying to make her mood as grey as their depths were, but she refused to be so easily moved.

Why was she so ecstatic? Because her warrior assessment was nearly over. She'd already completed the task of fighting an opponent, who had been her sister, and catching several pieces of prey. All that was left was catching a squirrel.

Her choice pick.

She was currently trotting through the forest, ears perked in happiness and wonder as she took in the sights around her. She had been apprenticed for six moons now and yet the sight of the woods never ceased to astound her. It was like every day brought something new, even if the difference was minute, and there was always something to observe.

Yes, the forest was her home.

 _I'm so close,_ she thought. _So close to being a warrior._

 _Uh huh._

 _What, Poolkit? Can't think of an insult to throw my way?_

 _Yeah, that must be it._ Screechpaw could actually hear her rolling her eyes in that single sentence.

 _Whatever. I know that you can't contradict my statement. Even if I were to mess this up, it wouldn't be enough to keep me from getting me new name and position._

 _Ah, but at what cost?_

 _What are you implying, Poolkit?_

 _Oh, nothing. Just that you may have to go through some…_ things _before getting what you want._

A sense of foreboding swept over Screechpaw. Having a history with the cat in her head, she knew that, firstly, what she was talking about could be nothing but bad, and that, secondly, it would happen.

It was definitely going to happen. Poolkit never spoke words of misleading horror.

But like the stubborn she-cat that she was, Screechpaw shoved the threat to the back of her mind, taking it as empty words.

 _Shut it. I can't focus on this right now._

 _Suit yourself. You can't say I didn't warn you._

 _Yeah. Whatever._

As Poolkit undoubtedly knew, her words had set Screechpaw on edge.

But no matter. The day had been going splendidly. She wasn't going to let it be ruined by some dead cat's words of destruction.

 _Hmm,_ Poolkit meowed in her head. _Well, I never said it was_ me _that was going to ruin it, now did I?_

Screechpaw pushed the comment aside. Maybe if she ignored the words, they'd go away.

They didn't.

Deciding to once and for all forget about Poolkit, Screechpaw focused her mind on more pressing matters: her squirrel. Heading more towards the ShadowClan territory, Screechpaw decided to pause somewhere in between their shared border and the Great Oak. Stepping lightly around the leaves and making as little noise as possible, Screechpaw finally settled herself to watch behind a tree.

She sat there, scenting the air and watching unblinkingly for what felt like hours. She would watch as birds hopped by her and mice scuttled in the mulch, waiting all the while.

And then it was there, her squirrel, running down the trunk of a tree, one that was about a foxlength away from Screechpaw, so that it could better search for nuts on the ground. It seemed to sense the hidden danger, its actions hurried and nervous.

Knowing that she wouldn't have much time, Screechpaw got into the hunter's crouch and advanced on the animal, making sure not to snap any twigs or crunch any leaves as she trekked through the undergrowth, which now seemed to be against her with all of its tripping roots and loud obstacles.

At last, she pounced. The squirrel, who had noticed her presence at last, made a mad dash for the tree, turning tail and bolting. It almost made it to the first branch, but the ThunderClan apprentice was too fast, reaching up and snagging its tail with a claw. Bringing it back to the ground, she promptly bit down on its neck, killing it swiftly.

Head high, with her heart swelling with pride, Screechpaw picked up the piece of freshkill and began padding through the forest, off to find her mentor, but she stopped as his voice came to her, drifting through the trees.

"Aspenpaw."

She turned, delighted, to look for the dark ginger pelt amongst the trees, but was soon bemused to see that he was nowhere in sight. She took a step towards where she'd thought the voice had come from, ears twitching.

"Ruffleslash?"

Poolkit's words came flooding back to her in a shock, setting her on edge again.

 _No, not Ruffleslash,_ she reassured herself. _He would never hurt me._

"Ruffleslash? Where are you?"

A black cloud swept over the sun, throwing the forest into even more darkness, doing nothing to help the cat's worry. Screechpaw swallowed, her heart starting to pound in fright. Something wasn't right here. This was wrong, all wrong.

It took her a moment to hear the heavy, gurgling sound of breathing behind her.

Slowly, Screechpaw turned to face whatever was behind her. At the sight of him, she yowled in fear, dropping her squirrel as she backed away, eyes wide and pelt on end.

There was Ruffleslash, emerald eyes cloudy with death. A large scratch ran down his face, dotted with blood. Several bite marks along his flank showed where chunks of his flesh had been removed, bone peeking out along his ribcage. But that wasn't the worst. His throat had been ripped out, leaving only gore. Blood poured down his front side, turning his dark ginger red black in the lack of light. It ran down him, never ceasing, dripping to the forest floor where it mixed with the dirt and leaves, staining the ground with the utmost pain imaginable.

Ruffleslash stood there, watching his apprentice with unseeing eyes. The eyes of the dead. They had no emotion in them, no pain, so suffering, no anything. They held nothing, but the sight of them was enough to fill Screechpaw with dread and horror.

"Aspenpaw," he repeated. "Aspenpaw…help…."

Screechpaw opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Her throat was clogged with terror, filled to the brim with fear, though she did her best to choke it down. She backed away from the tom in front of her, entirely abandoning the squirrel.

"Ruffleslash…."

He didn't seem to hear her. "Aspenpaw…help me…." He took a step forward, his completely unsupported head magically staying up, though it wobbled unsteadily on its almost nonexistent neck.

Screechpaw started to hyperventilate. "No, I-I don't know what t-to do—"

"HELP ME!" Ruffleslash shrieked, paws splaying as he gripped the ground with unsheathed claws. His eyes seemed to glow green, pupils all but gone, as he shuddered violently. His chest heaved for breath, only making more blood flow from his throat.

Breath coming in raspy, gargled chunks, the tom advanced on her, slowly at first, his paws clumsy and uneven. But after several steps, he became more sure of himself and was soon sprinting at the terrified apprentice.

Whipping around, Screechpaw bolted. Every inch of her was charged with horror, the sight of her mentor inerasable from her eyes. She ran as she had never before, terror making her legs those of a WindClan cat's. The woods were a blur around her, a mix of bone white trunks and blood red leaves.

But he was gaining on her, so fast that it was unbelievable for any cat, especially a dead one, to achieve his speed. Looking over her shoulder, Screechpaw saw with a jolt of dismay that he was at her tail.

With a leap, he was on her, rolling her over in the grass. He held her down as he looked into her eyes, his own dead ones larger than possible.

Screechpaw felt nothing but fear. Her breath came quickly, only coming faster and faster as the moment stretched into infinity. She fought to get the cat off of her, sobbing as she scratched and kicked, but nothing was working.

Ruffleslash stared down, panting and gasping, blood tricking from his open mouth. His claws tightened around Screechpaw's shoulders, cutting so deeply that the apprentice was sure he'd reached bone.

"You…" he rasped, voice a whisper. "You!"

Screechpaw struggled harder, but her attempts were fruitless. His weight only tripled with every action she took.

Ruffleslash opened his mouth, his jaws forced apart so that it was unnaturally wide. Looking into his mouth, Screechpaw could clearly view the gash in his throat, and she could see straight through the hole where flesh should have been.

A screech ripped from Ruffleslash, the loudest Screechpaw could ever hear. It was full of pain and suffering, filling her up. It took over her world, the only thing that existed. And all the while, his eyes of death stared into her soul, unseeing.

Screechpaw could handle in no longer. With a surge of strength that surprised her, she through off her attacker. Jumping to her paws, she turned to see him already up, charging at her, eyes on fire as his blood rained around him. Screechpaw, without thinking, turned and fled up a tree, but only got a few tail lengths up before a paw snagged her hind leg.

"ASPENPAW!" he screeched, eyes glowing absurdly, trying to pull her back down.

She turned around and swiped at Ruffleslash so hard that blood spurted from his paw. Howling in pain, he released her, and she took his second of weakness to flee. Faster than ever before, she ascended the tree, fear making her mind desperate and wild.

She only allowed herself to stop when she looked down and saw that Ruffleslash was the size of a pebble. Shaking, she lied down on the branch, sobs racking her body. Below her, the tom continued to shriek incessantly, even beginning to scratch and ram into the tree. But he did not think to climb it, leaving Screechpaw, for the moment, at least, safe.

It began to rain as his voice finally stopped screeching at her, her ears instead full of the purifying sound of the forest being cleansed. But she knew she couldn't be, that what had just happened could not be so easily removed from her mind. It was engraved there, never fading, never leaving, always present. She shook unceasingly as she bawled, wishing with all of her heart and mind that she could just be _normal_.

A voice reached up to her, making her jerk in shock and terror at the sound of it. Looking fearfully down, she saw Ruffleslash, no longer cloaked in death. His emerald eyes were normal once more, as was his pelt and voice. There was a single bloody scratch on his paw, left there by Screechpaw as she'd lashed out in terror. But that was all that remained of the event.

"Aspenpaw!" he called. "Aspenpaw, it's okay! I won't hurt you!"

The she-cat did not respond. She couldn't. She didn't believe him. She just shook harder in fright, burying her head in her coat.

It rained harder and harder that night. Screechpaw wasn't sure when exactly she had fallen asleep, just that she had dozed off eventually, full of exhaustion and horror. As she awoke, the events of the previous day came flooding back to her, and she looked down at the ground, expecting to see it empty of anyone's presence.

But there lay Ruffleslash at the base of the trunk, curled up and shaking in the cold, waiting for his apprentice to come down. He wasn't going to leave her, no matter what had happened, so he'd slept on the hard ground in patience.

He knew she'd come down to him eventually. She just needed time.

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **1947 words. I think it fits for this chapter.**

 **Pretty intense, huh? I haven't written an insane scene in a while, and this one was badly needed, don't you think? XD**

 **Don't forget to go follow my Instagram account, it is now whisperblaze_luvs_dramione (I reread the Harry Potter series XD).**

 **DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE!**

 **QOTDT1) If you had to pick any main GOOD character to die, like Screechpaw, Ruffleslash, Wolfpaw, etc, who would it be? How?**

 **QOTDT2) do you like sad endings or happy endings more?**

 **QOTDT3) for the 1000** **th** **review, should there be some kind of prize/reward for the reviewer? If so, what?**

 **K, so that's all for today! Thanks for reading, as always! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I'll update again when I get 30-35 reviews!**

 **Love you lots! Bye!**


	43. Finally

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE BOTTOM PLEASE READ IT!**

 **And FINALLY! The ceremony! Enjoy!**

 **Reviews: 887**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!"

This was it. This was the day. All of those moons of training, of practice, of falling over and getting up again, had led up to this very moment. It had been a lot of work, and a lot of her time had been taken up by the exhaustion that was her apprenticeship, but it had all been worth it for this moment to finally arrive.

Her warrior ceremony.

Screechpaw, along with Whiskerpaw, Shinepaw, and Batpaw, walked proudly to the front of the clearing, sitting down gracefully and wrapping her tail around her paws. She knew that even though her clanmates didn't think of her as a particularly elegant cat, what with the several insane fits she'd had in plain view of the entire clan, acting with grace was her best chance at redeeming herself somewhat. She wanted them to see that she wasn't the crazy apprentice they thought she was; she was an intelligent, able warrior.

 _You're still crazy, though._

 _Yeah, well I've been doing better recently._

 _Other than your little fit last night, that is._

 _Hmmm, well that was the biggest I've had in moons._

 _I suppose. But I'm still here, in your head. You know, most cats can't hear other voices bouncing around in their minds. You're a special case. A_ crazy _case._

 _Whatever, Poolkit. Not even you can ruin this._

 _I hate it when you call me that._

 _Oh, I know._

Screechpaw ignored the voice and turned to look at Blazestar as he stood in front of the four cats. She still hated him profusely for all he'd done to Ruffleslash, but ever since the dark ginger tom had been quieter about his defiance, there had been no more attacks on him. So though she despised him, she couldn't show it, for there'd be no obvious reason on why she felt that way to the cats around her.

The leader looked around slowly at the clan, tail flicking slightly as he got their full attention. "Six moons," he mewed. "Six moons it's been since these four cats started their journey of apprenticeship. And today it ends. But with the ending of this story, a new one begins for them, a story of what it means to be a ThunderClan warrior. For they must be loyal, brave, strong, and a thousand more things that all of you, my warriors, already possess. And I have no doubt in my mind that they won't let me down.

"I, Blazestar," he recited, "leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Batpaw, Shinepaw, Whiskerpaw, Screechpaw: do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." They all meowed together, heads high as they watched their leader.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names." Blazestar walked forward, first to his own son. "Batpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Batflight. StarClan honors your optimism and spirit, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.

"Shinepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Shineflicker. StarClan honors your perseverance and wit and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.

"Whiskerpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Whiskercry. StarClan honors your kindness and eagerness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Screechpaw watched with rising excitement as each of her three friends received their new names, respectfully licking Blazestar's shoulder as he rested his head on top of theirs.

Finally, he walked in front of her, standing and looking down into her eyes.

This was it.

"Screechpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Screechthroat. StarClan honors your skill and dedication, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Licking his shoulder as he rested his chin on top of her head, Screechthroat felt a surge of energy shoot through her. Finally. _Finally._ They were warriors.

Turning around with the other new warriors, Screechthroat allowed her pride to fill her up as she watched her clanmates cheer their names.

"Batflight! Shineflicker! Whiskercry! Screechthroat!"

Screechthroat's eyes scanned the crowd, searching out the cats most important to her. Glacierfire's eyes shone with happiness, a hint of sadness showing in them for her mate's absence. If only he was here to see this. Terrorfall looked delighted, purring nonstop to see that the cat whom she'd saved as a kit was finally all grown up. Wonderstrength was standing, yowling the names as loud as she could, overjoyed to see that the kits she'd seen as her little siblings were no longer so small.

And the most important of them all, the cat Screechthroat looked up to more than any other, the one who had pulled her from the overflowing river of insanity and hurt, who had effectively saved her from herself, was standing right in the front. His eyes were full of pride for Screechthroat, so full that it looked as if it was his own warrior ceremony. Catching her eye, he gave a single nod, half a smile, and his trademark wink. This alone was enough to make Screechthroat beam.

And she couldn't stop grinning, for what she had sought to accomplish had finally been completed. She was a warrior. And the ground shaking cheers of her clanmates only confirmed this fact in her heart.

. . . ….. . . .

Her eyelids were just about to close for good when Ruffleslash ducked out from the warriors den and made her way over to her in the early morning light.

"You can talk now," he purred. "How was the vigil?"

"Long," Screechthroat yawned. "And tiring."

"Ah, yes," Ruffleslash meowed. "I remember my vigil as if it were only yesterday…."

"Me too," Screechthroat mewed, bumping him playfully with her shoulder. "Because mine _was_ yesterday. More accurately, last night."

Ruffleslash laughed as she headed off towards her nest in the apprentices den. The warriors den was too packed currently, so the four new warriors would all have to stay in their old den for a while. Screechthroat didn't mind. It was the title of a warrior that she wanted.

She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the moss and she opened her eyes to see that she was sitting in a dark hollow lined with trees. The forest reached into the heavens, cutting off almost all of the light, leaving only enough for Screechthroat to see her surroundings. The ground beneath her paws was sticky with mud and the scene as a whole seemed to be lacking in color, almost entirely some nauseating shade of brown, grey, and dark green.

Then a voice sounded through the trees, a voice that was familiar to Screechthroat, but one that she couldn't place. It was in her memories, ones that occurred long ago, so long ago that she couldn't recognize who the voice belonged to. It reverberated inside of her head, desperately trying to make the new warrior understand who it was that was talking.

"The truth will be revealed."

The voice was high and innocent, bright and caring. It held childlike wonder in its depths, the lightness it was spoken with confusing and frightening Screechthroat in an ironic way.

"What?" she whispered into the night, getting to her paws at last.

"The truth will be revealed," the voice repeated, louder now. "The truth will be revealed."

Screechthroat's eyes widened in disorientation. "I-I don't under—"

"The truth will be revealed."

"What does that mean?" Screechthroat yowled, turning around wildly as she searched for where the voice was being projected. Her eyes were wide and her pelt was on end as she shrieked, "What truth?"

Suddenly, she heard paw steps behind her. Whipping around wildly, Screechthroat stared tensely at the spot where the steps were getting louder. They seemed to be taking their time, in no rush to put Screechthroat's heart at ease. But the cat at last made their identity known, stepping out from behind a tree with a wide, welcoming grin.

Screechthroat blinked in surprise at the cat in front of her. She was tiny, a small she-cat kit. She was almost entirely white, except for black ears, a black tail, and ginger paws. Her eyes were a bright green and they shone with happiness.

It was Poolkit.

"P-Poolkit?!" Screechthroat mewed, taking several steps back. "Wha—"

The kit shook her head, as if saying that there was no reason to be scared. Instead, she took a few steps toward Screechthroat, licking her shoulder friendlily.

She smiled again. "The truth will be revealed," she meowed again.

Screechthroat swallowed, the situation not really sinking in yet. "What truth?"

 _You'll see._

The voice sounded loudly in her ears, and the warrior flinched, not having expected it. She looked at the kit in front of her, frowning in confusion.

Poolkit backed away, not breaking eye contact as she walked back into the trees. She opened her jaws one more time before disappearing completely from view.

"The truth will be revealed."

. . . ….. . . .

Screechthroat awoke, gasping slightly as she looked around her. What had just happened? What _was_ that?

She was so shaken that it took her a full minute to see the emerald eyes staring at her from the entrance to the den. When she noticed them, she opened her jaws to ask the owner of the pair what he was doing here, but his ginger tail slapped over her mouth before she could utter even a syllable. He simply beckoned her out of the den, and she followed him obediently.

Looking around her as she stepped out, she realized that it was dark out. She must have slept through the entire day. Guilt filled her up, but she shook it away as she followed her old mentor out of the camp.

He led her to the lakeside, finally sitting when they were on a small hill overlooking the water. The moon shone down on it, illuminating the lake and turning it silver under the black sky. The trees swayed slightly in the breeze, moving in unison with Screechthroat's own fur.

Ruffleslash looked down at her as she sat. He smiled at her, looking back at the water as he spoke. "These past few moons, you've done fantastically. You've exceeded every single expectation I held you to. I can't believe everything you've been able to accomplish, actually. No apprentice should ever have had to go through what you have, but you did and you were strong throughout it all. You kept your head high, and I'm proud of you for it."

He looked at her, a small smile lighting up his features. At the same time, though, sadness shone in his eyes. He would miss having her as an apprentice in the same way she would miss him as a mentor. They'd been through a lot together.

"I know this isn't the end of us," he mewed. "I'll obviously still see you around and all, but I'll miss being with you every day, being able to train you. I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have."

Screechthroat blinked away tears, her throat choking up slightly at what he said. She would miss him, more than he knew.

"And so," Ruffleslash meowed, "it is with pride and joy that I give you your warrior name. Your _real_ one. You know as well as I that you aren't Screechthroat. Not really, at least.

"From this moment on, to me and any who see you for who and what you actually are, you will be known as Aspenleaf. It has been a huge honor to be your mentor. You mean more to me than you would ever think, Aspen. I hope you know that."

Screechthroat's eyes teared up, and she rushed forward to Ruffleslash, leaning her head on his shoulder and rubbing her pelt against his. She sniffed, smiling as she did so.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I don't deserve it, but thank you."

He shook his head. "You deserve it. You deserve it more than anyone else, Aspenleaf. I'm so proud of you. _So_ proud."

The two sat there, staring at the lake for what felt like infinity. All was at peace, and things were perfect.

This was how it was meant to be.

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2103 words! Yassss!**

 **FINALLY! That only took 43 chapters for them to get their warriors names haha XD**

 ** _IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT READ THIS!: _****I have started a new fanfiction, a Harry Potter one! It's called Of Pasts and Redemptions and it's a Dramione fic. It would mean the world to me if you went and read it. Even if you don't like HP, I'd really appreciate it if you read at least one chapter because I honestly don't know if it's good or not XD I've never done a HP fic and I really need some good reviews/feedback on how it is so far.**

 **QOTDT1) How do you like the four new warrior names? If you'd change any, which ones would you change and what would you change them to?**

 **QOTDT2) Would you consider reading Of Pasts and Redemptions? Totally ok if not, some people aren't into HP, just want to know what you'd think! ;)**

 **Ok thank you! I'll review again when I get 25-35 reviews! Actually this time, because I've been quite lax recently about holding yall to that standard XD**

 **Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! Love you all byeeeee**


	44. Allegiances and Chap44: There She Stood

**It is finally here.**

 **The chapter I have been waiting for for a year and a half.**

 **The first big reveal.**

 **Y'all are going to be shocked out of your minds ;)**

 **Reviews: 922**

 **. . . ... . . .**

Allegiances:

ThunderClan

Leader: Blazestar—black tom with ginger chest and paws and yellow eyes (Emeraldsong's mate and Batpaw's father)

Deputy: Tailstripe—plain brown tom with striped white tail and yellow eyes

Medicine cat: Wingfeather—white and cream she-cat with amber eyes

Warriors:

Pepperheart—light silver tom with black underbelly and yellow eyes

Saltytooth—dark grey she-cat with lighter splotches and amber eyes (Geckostripe's mate and Skyheart and Fangshadow's mother)

Shadowpelt—black tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Cardinaltail—tortoiseshell tom with ginger tail and green eyes

Shimmersoar—long furred black and white she-cat with green eyes (Heatcloud's mate and Ruffleslash, Flamelick, and Wonderstrength's mother)

Geckostripe—white and brown tabby tom with yellow eyes (Saltytooth's mate and Skyheart and Fangshadow's father)

Dapplefoot—light silver tabby she-cat with tortoiseshell paws and green eyes

Rockpelt—dark brown tom with brown patches and blue-green eyes (Toothshade's mate and Robinkit, Tulipkit, and Bushkit's father)

Heatcloud—ginger tom with amber eyes (Shimmersoar's mate and Ruffleslash, Flamelick, and Wonderstrength's father)

Sweetfang—light and dark brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Glacierfire—beautiful black and silver tabby she-cat with blue-green eyes

Emeraldsong—white she-cat with green eyes

Ruffleslash—long furred dark ginger tom with black splotches and green eyes

Flamelick—bright ginger tom with white paws and amber eyes

Wonderstrength—light ginger she-cat with black and white patches and amber eyes

Skyheart—brown and gray tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Fangshadow—dark brown tom with grey stripe running down back

Terrorfall—back she-cat with grey ears and piercing red eyes

Screechthroat—silver and black tabby she-cat with silver ears, paws, and tail tip and blue-green eyes

Shineflicker—silver she-cat with green eyes

Whiskercry—smoky gray and white tom with blue eyes

Batflight—black tom with ginger stripe running down back and yellow eyes

Apprentices:

none

Queens:

Toothshade—white she-cat with ginger muzzle and tortoiseshell legs and ears and amber eyes (Rockpelt's mate)

Kits:

Robinkit—tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

Bushkit—brown tom with white paws and stripe down his back and amber eyes

Tulipkit—white and brown she-cat with green eyes

Elders:

Woodshade—dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes

Snowvine—white she cat with grey stripe running down back and yellow eyes

WindClan

Leader: Thornstar—tabby brown tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Ropetail—dark brown tabby tom with black tail

Medicine cat: Branchtail—tortoiseshell tom with green eyes

Warriors:

Windytalon—cream and brown tom

Cutfeather—yellow and tortoiseshell she-cat

Burnpelt—russet tom with white stripes

Lizardshine—light brown tom

Strawpelt—light brown tabby she-cat

Beeflight—silver and white tom

Hedgeleaf—brown tom with grey patches and green eyes (Goldspark's mate and Wolfkit and Spikekit's father)

Brownclaw—brown tom with white tipped ears and paws

Goldspark—gold and silver tabby with blue eyes (Hedgeleaf's mate and Wolfpaw and Spikepaw's mother)

Cornfoot—cream tabby tom

Nettlesting—dark cream tom with brown tail

Freezeheart—cream and brown tabby she-cat

Wolfstrike—grey and brown tabby with silver paws and ears and blue eyes

Spikebristle—golden tom with brown stripes and tail and green eyes

Apprentices:

none

Queens:

Owlsoar—dark grey and brown tabby she-cat

Kits:

Copperkit—golden she-cat with white patches, white ears, and a white circle around her left eye, amber eyes

Swiftkit—she-cat with a long black pelt with white and gold flecks all over it, icy blue eyes

Elders:

Hazelfoot—silver tabby she-cat with darker spots

Grapeskip—grey and cream tom

RiverClan

Leader: Palestar—long furred light grey she-cat with blue-green eyes

Deputy: Stripechest—silver tom with dark stripe running along chest and belly – orange eyes

Medicine cat: Glidepelt—ginger and silver dappled she-cat with yellow eyes

Warriors:

Jaggedtalon—scruffy brown and grey tom

Furbranch—brown tom with black neck fur

Avalanchetail—light cream she-cat with black underbelly

Swiftbrook—silver tabby she-cat

Meadowheart—cream and tortoiseshell she-cat with black ears

Antfur—dark grey and brown tom

Windtail—brown tom with grey tail

Flowershadow—silver she-cat with cream, brown, and black patches

Rippleshade—silver tom with black tail and forelegs, bright amber eyes

Wavelight—light silver and tortoiseshell she-cat, yellow eyes

Salmonfur—silver she-cat with white paws

Shrimpclaw—dappled silver and white tom

Streamwhisper—white she-cat with black ears and tail, ginger paws, and green eyes, parents unknown

Stormbreeze—dark grey and brown tom

Berryleaf—cream and silver tabby she-cat

Lilystride—black and silver she-cat

Queens:

none

Kits:

none

Elders:

Petalthorn—silver and grey tabby she-cat

Lightheart—yellow and cream she-cat

Nutbreeze—brown tabby tom

ShadowClan

Leader: Moonstar—black she-cat with white dappled pelt and blue eyes

Deputy: Rustclaw—dark brown tabby tom with dark amber eyes

Medicine cat: Soilfoot—brown tom with black paws and tail – grey eyes

Warriors:

Misteyes—dark grey tom with black rings around eyes

Sunleap—she-cat with pelt that fades from grey to white

Sharpfang—brown tom with black and white chest and neck

Scorpionwing—black and brown tabby with white ear tips and paws

Clawpelt—black tom with silver forepaw

Fruitstep—tortoiseshell and black and white she-cat

Falconwing—light brown tabby tom

Bluefrost—black she-cat with blue eyes

Lightningpelt—dark grey tom with white stipe along back

Appleheart—black she-cat with tortoiseshell chest

Pinefur—white and black tom with tortoiseshell forepaws

Blizzardtail—tortoiseshell tom with black ears

Scratchfoot—tortoiseshell tom with white chest and paws

Apprentices:

none

Queens:

Darkclaw—light brown she-cat with black paws

Kits:

none

Elders:

Hailcloud—black and white tom with silver ears

Treewhisker—silver she-cat with black underbelly

Gorsefall—tortoiseshell she-cat with silver ears

 _. . . ….. . . ._

 _"_ _But her thought process was interrupted soon after the question crossed her mind. For as Screechthroat looked up from her fish after taking a bite, her chewing stopped and her blue eyes went wide. Across the clearing, just past her sister's shoulder, stood a cat…this was real."_

 _~Screechthroat, watching_

 _. . . … . . ._

The rays of early leaffall sunshine fell upon the ThunderClan camp easily, turning the cats' pelts a light yellow. A light breeze swept through the forest, just enough to cool the warriors, but not harsh enough yet to make them shiver in discomfort. The sound of rustling tree branches filled the air, giving the woods a more real feel to them.

All in all, it was a very peaceful and easygoing morning.

Screechthroat padded out from the apprentices den, where she was still forced to sleep, and made her way to the freshkill pile. Picking her usual squirrel, she turned to see Shineflicker and Flamelick eating their own food in the corner of camp. A few other warriors dotted the camp, but most were still asleep or on patrol.

The black and silver warrior padded over to the two, smiling as she sat. "Hi, guys," she meowed.

"Hey, Screechthroat," Shineflicker managed through a mouthful of mouse. "Sleep well?"

She shrugged. "Well enough, I suppose. You?"

"Yeah," her sister mewed, finally swallowing her food. "The same can't be said for Flamelick, of course."

The bright ginger tom shifted awkwardly where he lay, averting his amber eyes, looking downwards. Now that she was looking at him, Screechthroat could see that her sister was right; he seemed incredibly tired and ruffled. His fur was matted down in places and stuck up rather oddly in other sections, giving him a very unrested look.

"I'm fine," he huffed. "Just couldn't get to bed last night, that's all."

Shineflicker let out a _pff_ of annoyance and rolled her eyes in an irritated manner. "Yeah, _clearly._ I'm no idiot, Flamelick, I know you're lying. I just don't know why you're not telling me."

The tom opened his jaws to deliver what would have undoubtedly been a snappy retort, but was cut off as his brother and sister padded over.

"We were going to organize a hunting party," Wonderstrength mewed. "Want to join, you three?"

Screechthroat stood, stretching her back as she did so. "I'm up for it."

"Yeah," Shineflicker said, shooting Flamelick another annoyed look as she got up from her seat. "It's not like I'm too tired to do it."

Flamelick's eyes narrowed as he, too, stood. "Fine. I'm fully awake, anyways."

A look of gloating triumph flashed across Shineflicker's face. She'd see how exhausted he really was when he couldn't carry out a simple hunter's crouch. And she knew he was too proud to deny such a challenge.

The group of five was making their way to the thorn tunnel and Ruffleslash was about to head through it when a cat burst from the passageway, panting as he stumbled into the camp.

The five ThunderClan cats stepped back in shock as they took in the bloody and battered form of the RiverClan cat, Furbranch, a brown tom with black neck fur. He had a long scratch on the side of head, which he was heavily bleeding from, and had several clumps of fur missing on his pelt. His eyes were wide with desperation and pain as he looked at the warriors around him, breath coming in great rasps.

"Please…" he forced out, voice shaking and weak. "Please, help us! WindClan h-has attacked and we're greatly ov-overpowered! W-we've asked ShadowClan to help, b-but they refuse! There's no one left to turn to! Please, help!"

The sound of the commotion in the clearing had brought many of the sleeping warriors out of their dreams and into the camp, where they now watched, surprised at what they heard. Many exchanged startled glances with each other, ears down as they took in the information.

Ruffleslash's green eyes widened as he listened. "I'll get Blazestar."

"No need," the hard voice sounded behind them. The cats whipped around to see their black and ginger leader standing strongly on the Highledge. He seemed to be holding himself higher than normal, as if to make the small RiverClan tom beneath him feel inferior.

"You need backup?" he growled.

Furbranch nodded violently. "We're losing horribly. Please, many of us are too exhausted already to continue!"

Blazestar's eyes narrowed as he seemed to mull this over. "And why should we help you?"

The RiverClan tom's eyes widened in surprise and growing fear that the forest cats would refuse to come with him. "Our-our clans are united in our fight against WindClan! Ours has been under c-constant attack, usually getting bombarded at least twice a moon for quite some time now. Th-ThunderClan and RiverClan are not enemies; if ever was a time to set aside boundaries for the greater good, it's now!"

Blazestar's tail flicked as he took this in. "That is true…but my clan will benefit in no way from helping yours. We will get nothing but wounded warriors and your thanks in return. I see no reason to help."

Furbranch sagged at the leader's words. His head hung low as he realized that he hadn't been able to convince the black and ginger tom. He had failed his clan

But a new voice spoke out above the crowd of cats. Everyone turned to her as she spoke, surprised that anyone had had the courage to stand up to Blazestar.

"Please, Blazestar," Terrorfall said as she stepped closer to the Highledge. Her red eyes shone out from her smooth pelt of black, her grey ears twitching in the slightest. "If we assist them now, then they'll owe us. If we ever need help in our own battles against WindClan or ShadowClan, they'll come to our aid. And not even WindClan could be able to overthrow two clans. We'd obviously have the upper hand in the situation. Their alliance could be to both of our clans' advantages."

Blazestar's eyes narrowed as he listened, but in thought instead of anger. He nodded slightly as the she-cat spoke, flicking his tail when she was done. There was a tense silence then; Furbranch looked up from where he lay, a small bit of hope showing on his face. Screechthroat's claws sheathed and unsheathed as she waited impatiently for his answer.

And finally, it came. "Very well. Terrorfall, since it is in your taste to help, you will lead the patrol. Take with you…" he looked down at the cats, deciding on the four closest to the thorn tunnel. "Ruffleslash, Flamelick, Shineflicker, and Screechthroat. Return when you are no longer needed."

Terrorfall dipped her head in respect. "Thank you, Blazestar."

The four cats who had been chosen were bristling with excitement, but Wonderstrength's eyes shone with hurt, as she'd been left from the party. "What about me? Can I go, too?" she asked her leader.

He was shaking his head before her plea had fully left her mouth. "No. With your injured paw, you'll do nothing but slow them down."

The light ginger warrior slumped where she stood, a sigh escaping her.

Screechthroat rested her tail on the she-cat's shoulder in comfort. "I'm sorry, Wonderstrength. I can stay with you if you'd like."

She gave a small smile, trying to look more content. "No, it's fine. You go. Do your best."

Screechthroat nodded, taking a step back. "I'll see you when we get back, okay?"

And with that, the six cats, Furbranch leading them proudly, raced off to RiverClan territory, where they jumped into the thick of battle.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechthroat sat, licking her hind leg as the last few WindClan cats sped from the RiverClan camp. The sun now sunk lower in the sky, throwing the land into a deep orange color. Cats limped around her, but they looked relieved to have finally fought off WindClan.

The black and silver ThunderClan cat padded over to the medicine cat, Glidepelt, a ginger and silver dappled she-cat with yellow. She sat outside, tending to the cats who came to her, dashing about hurriedly as she moved. There was many wounded warriors to be healed, and she had no one to help her.

So Screechthroat sat patiently. She wasn't too badly hurt, sporting only a few scratches and a nasty bite to the base of her tail.

A cat sat next to her and she smiled to see Ruffleslash, but her grin was soon replaced with a wince as she took in his state. He had a horribly large laceration on his right foreleg and a nasty scratch above his eye, which leaked red into his green orbs. Blood matted parts of his fur, only reminding Screechthroat of the vision she'd had of him not a quarter moon earlier.

"It's not so bad," he consoled her, seeing her flinch. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

But the RiverClan medicine cat seemed to think that it was definitely more serious than he said. She rushed him into her den, forcing him into a nest and telling him not to move from it until the next day. She gave him an herb solution to lick onto his awful leg wound and made him swallow poppy seeds for the pain. She then fled the den, leaving Ruffleslash and Screechthroat to exchange amused glances.

"I mean, she knows what she'd doing," the she-cat purred.

Ruffleslash shrugged. "True, but it really doesn't hurt at all."

Screechthroat looked at him with an expression that said _are you kidding me?_ "You were limping so badly that you could barely walk in here."

"Ehhh…still," he laughed. "I'll manage."

"I'm sure you will," she smiled. "You're strong. How else would I have become such a good warrior if I hadn't learned it all from you?"

He tilted his head. "That is true. I am pretty amazing."

"Just don't go getting a big head!"

"Me?!" he exclaimed, eyes widening in mock surprise. "Why, I'd never."

Screechthroat grinned. "I wouldn't be so sure of that one, Ruffleslash."

The two warriors lay in the den, talking far past sundown. They talked about anything that crossed their minds, of squirrels and the lake, of the kits back in ThunderClan, of how stupid WindClan was. A few other warriors came into the den and fell into their own nests, but they fell asleep so quickly that they didn't even mind the two forest cats. They were just grateful that they'd shown up at all.

And finally, after years of talking, Glidepelt shushed their unending chatter, telling them to get their rest.

"Well," Screechthroat mewed as she stood, the medicine cat disappearing into the camp again. "I guess I'd better go."

Ruffleslash's face fell as she stepped away and made her way to the entrance of the den. Just as she was about to push her way out, his voice called out to her.

"Aspenleaf."

She looked back at him, eyes frowning slightly in question. "Yeah?"

His emerald green eyes stared into hers, piercing and pleading. "Stay with me?"

Screechthroat smiled slightly, her heart flipping in her chest. She nodded slightly. "Okay."

She stepped into his nest, curling up next to him. She felt his tail wrap protectively around her and she let out a small sigh of contentment. Something in her reminded her of Wolfpaw, telling her that this was wrong, but she chose to ignore it. After all, it wasn't like Ruffleslash liked her in _that_ way, right?

But he was sleeping right next to her, in the same nest. What else could that mean?

She chose to ignore the question. She was too tired to think of these sort of things.

. . . ….. . . .

 _Leave RiverClan._

Poolkit's voice resonated in Screechthroat's dream. She stared around wildly, looking for the small kit, but could see nothing but black. Not a single ray of light illuminated her vision.

 _Leave RiverClan,_ the voice repeated.

"Why?" she called out, but her voice was lost in the empty color of black.

And still, the voice spoke, talking at her quickly.

 _Leave RiverClan._

 _Go back to ThunderClan._

 _You're not wanted here._

 _They'll hurt you._

 _Leave._

 _Go back._

 _You're not safe here._

Screechthroat let out a snort. "Since when have you cared if I'm safe?" she questioned Poolkit. "You'd be glad if I dropped dead!"

 _You aren't safe here._

 _You'll die._

 _They'll kill you._

 _Make a run for it._

 _Go back to the forest and never come back to this clan._

 _There are things that you don't understand._

 _You must leave._

 _And never come back._

 _Before you learn the truth…_

And just like that, her dream was over. She woke in her nest, gasping and panting. What had that been? What truth did it mention at the end? Was it the same one as in her previous dream?

What was _happening?_

Screechthroat stood from her nest, taking care not to wake the sleeping tom next to her. She stepped from the den, stretching in the early morning light. A few clouds floated in the air, yet their attempts to block out the sun were fruitless, for the sun shone too brightly that day.

Screechthroat looked up to see the leader of RiverClan, Palestar, padding over to her. The long furred, light grey she-cat smiled, her blue green eyes shining in relief.

"Thank you for coming to help us," she meowed, her low voice full of thankfulness. "I don't know what we'd have done without your aid. It was greatly appreciated."

Screechthroat grinned, waving away the comment with her tail. "Oh, it's absolutely fine! We'd help anytime. We're one in our fight against WindClan. We should be bonded in a time like this."

Palestar dipped her head, respect showing in her eyes. "Wise words from a warrior so young."

Screechthroat dipped her head back in return. "I only speak the truth. Thank you for your hospitality."

The two cats parted ways, Palestar heading to her den while Screechthroat went to the freshkill pile. She picked out the smallest fish, not wanting to be seen as greedy, and made her way to where her sister sat, yawning widely.

"Sleep well?" she purred, repeating the she-cat's words from the day before.

Shineflicker shot her a smirk, continuing the conversation. "Well enough, I suppose. You?"

The two laughed, but as Screechthroat bit into her fish, she couldn't help but feel off put. She thought of her dream, unsure about what it had meant. An uneasy feeling filled her up as she contemplated its meaning.

 _It doesn't make any sense! What "truth" could Poolkit have been referring to?_

But her thought process was interrupted soon after the question crossed her mind. For as Screechthroat looked up from her fish after taking a bite, her chewing stopped and her blue eyes went wide. Across the clearing, just past her sister's shoulder, stood a cat.

A white she-cat with black ears and a black tail.

A cat with ginger paws.

A cat with green eyes, eyes that Screechthroat had long thought were actually yellow.

A cat whom Screechthroat had thought she'd never see again.

A cat who was supposed to be dead.

But this was real. For there she stood, stretching and yawning in the early morning light. She was no longer a kit, as Screechthroat had last seen her, but a full grown, strong warrior.

It was Poolkit.

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2519 words. Nice.**

 **And let me just say YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS THIS CHAPTER HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR FOREVER FOR IT TO GET HERE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!**

 **I got you guys so good. A couple of people, like two or three I think, were able to figure it out before this, but I didn't expect anyone to.**

 **AHAHAHAHAHAH PLOT TWIST!**

 **I am SOOOOO excited to see your guys' reactions. I'm psyched for it.**

 **Last thing: If you're into Harry Potter, my HP fanfic is now 13 chapters in and it's going pretty strongly. It's called Of Pasts and Redemptions and if you're a Potterhead, I suggest you go check it out! It's coming along quite nicely!**

 **QOTDT1) How in the hell could Poolkit possibly still be alive?**

 **QOTDT2) How is Screechthroat going to react to this? Will she better off/worse off than before?**

 **QOTDT3) be honest with me: did you see this coming? Or did I take you completely by surprise?**

 **And don't worry, guys, a good amount of things will be explained next chapter.**

 **Be sure to review! I'll update again when I get 30-40 reviews! Don't forget to suggest, correct, and review!**

 **I eagerly await your reactions ;)**


	45. The Truth

**HAHA I LEFT Y'ALL ON A CLIFFIE**

 **ENJOY**

 **Reviews: 965**

 **And I couldn't find a good quote for this chapter, so oh well XD**

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 _No. This isn't real. This_ can't _be real._

But it seemed so real. Poolkit looked so real, like a solid, living, breathing cat. She walked across the clearing surely, not even glancing at the ThunderClan cats. She plucked a fat fish from the freshkill pile and turned back nonchalantly. And she trotted away, not even blinking at the she-cat who was looking on in shock.

 _No, this is fake. This…this c-can't be…._

But then Poolkit sat down next to a black and silver she-cat, who immediately started chatting with her, laughing and purring as if it were any normal day. Poolkit smiled, biting into her prey as she mewed a response to whatever the cat had said.

And Screechthroat watched, jaws hanging open in disbelief and horror. Her blue green eyes were wide as she took the events in, body shaking.

 _What is happening?!_

She shook her head, slowly at first, but faster as her mind raced to understand. This…this was crazy! Poolkit…Poolkit was _dead. DEAD._

Shineflicker, who was still sitting next to her sister, finally seemed to realize that something was wrong with her. She frowned, tilting her head in worry and confusion.

"What…what's wrong?" No response. "Screechthroat? Are…are you okay?"

Screechthroat blinked, her gaze slowly moving its way to her sister's. She closed her mouth, clenching her jaw. _Relax. You're just seeing things. You see things all the time. This is no different._

"Y-yeah," she stuttered, clearing her throat, eyes darting away again. "I'm fine."

"What were you looking at?"

Shineflicker turned around, frowning as she made to see what had captured her sister's attention. She saw nothing out of the ordinary at first, just a few RiverClan cats dotting the clearing.

But then, she noticed it. Or rather, _her._ The cat everyone had long thought to be dead. And Shineflicker's green eyes widened so that they each resembled the early morning sun.

"What the—?!" she shrieked, before biting down on her tongue to keep from causing a scene. She whipped around, fear and bewilderment on her face. "Sc-Screechthroat, tell me you see her too."

Dread filled the silver and black tabby warrior up. If her sister saw Poolkit, then it had to be real. _This_ was real.

"Yes," she whispered slowly. "I-I do."

"B-but," her sister spluttered. "This…this is _insane!_ Poolkit is dead! How could—why is—I don't—"

She couldn't finish a single thought. This was just too much to take in. It didn't make any logical sense.

Standing on shaky legs, Screechthroat made her way to the medicine cats den, throwing nervous glances towards where Poolkit sat with the RiverClan she-cat. Ducking into the den, she saw the sleeping form of her old mentor and padded over to him.

"Ruffleslash!" she hissed, not wanting to wake up the other snoozing warriors. "Ruffleslash! Get up!"

He mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over, but didn't wake. His tail flicked slightly, but he stirred no more after that.

Screechthroat clicked her tongue, her impatience and desperation beginning to make her irritated. She nudged the tom, poking him in urgency.

"Ruffleslash, I need you to get up!" she breathed. "This is important!"

He groaned, looking up at her with those captivating emerald eyes. "Important enough to wake me up?"

"Clearly!" she snapped, pulling him from his nest before he could protest more. "You're not going to believe this! In fact, I still don't. But it's real, and I need you to tell me I'm not crazy!"

He rolled his eyes as the two ducked out from under the den. "Aspenleaf, I've told you before: you aren't crazy." He purred. "But I'd like you still even if you were."

Were she in any other situation, Screechthroat's heart would be racing at the comment, but as it was, she had other things to think over.

"Not the time to flirt and be amazing, Ruffleslash," she mewed, pushing him in front of her and forcing his gaze towards the object of her mystification. "It's the time to look at that!"

Ruffleslash smiled and turned to where she was gesturing, scoffing slightly. "And what, pray tell, am I—"

He saw her. His eyes widened and his ears drooped, emerald orbs filling with a million emotions. His mouth was agape and his broad shoulders sagged.

So both Shineflicker and Ruffleslash saw her.

"Well," the dark ginger tom saw quietly. "You're not crazy. I see her, too."

Screechthroat swallowed. "What…what do we do?" she asked as Shineflicker made her way over to them, pelt ruffled in unease.

Ruffleslash looked down, eyes conflicted as he thought things through. A moment later, his head shot up again and he searched about him, gaze finally settling on a silver tom with a black tail and forelegs. Ruffleslash made his way over to him quickly, trying his best to not look frantic.

"Hi," he greeted, tail flicking. "I'm Ruffleslash, from ThunderClan."

The tom nodded, smiling. "I'm Rippleshade. I really appreciate you guys coming over to help us yesterday, by the way. I don't know what we would have done without you."

Screechthroat liked this cat already, but making small talk wasn't at the top of her priority list at the moment.

It wasn't on her old mentor's, either. "Listen," he started, eyes darting over to where Poolkit sat. "That cat over there—who is she?"

Rippleshade turned to where he was looking and his bright amber eyes immediately lit up. "Oh, that's Streamwhisper! Lilystride is the she-cat next to her. The two of them and Lilystride's two siblings were made warriors just a few days ago, actually."

Screechthroat frowned. "Who are her siblings?"

Rippleshade turned back to them. "Stormbreeze and Berryleaf. Why do you ask?"

The ThunderClan cats ignored the question. Shineflicker spoke up, eyes narrowing. "Can I ask who Streamwhisper's parents are?"

Rippleshade frowned slightly. "Uh, why does it matter?"

Screechthroat pressed on. "How long has she been a part of RiverClan?"

Rippleshade took a step back, eyes wide. "Look, if you have so many questions, why don't you all just go and ask her yourself?"

The ThunderClan cats exchanged nervous glances, but Ruffleslash obliged and began making his way over to Poolkit—er, Streamwhisper and Lilystride. Screechthroat and Shineflicker followed quickly, not wanting to miss anything. They stood above the two cats, who looked confused and wary.

"Hi," Poolkit mewed, awkwardness edging her voice. "You're from ThunderClan, right?"

The sound of her voice was like a blow to Screechthroat. She staggered backwards, shock and disbelief making her paws unsteady. She swallowed, finding the strength to approach the warrior.

Her blue green eyes widened. "P-Poolkit?"

The she-cat frowned, shooting a glance at the cat sitting next to her before her eyes flicked back to Screechthroat's. "Uh, Poolkit? What are you—I'm sorry, I think you're confusing me for someone else."

Shineflicker edged closer, looking into the cat's eyes. "Poolkit, what are you doing?"

She fidgeted on the ground. "I-I'm sorry, I really think you're mistaken. I don't know this Poolkit you're talking about."

Screechthroat blinked. "You…you don't remember, do you?"

"Re-remember?"

Screechthroat looked at Ruffleslash, hurt on her face. What was happening?!

"Poolkit, I don't understand," Shineflicker snarled, glaring at the ground in sudden anger. "What are you playing at? Why are you here? Why did you never return?"

Poolkit blinked. "Re-return? Return where?"

"To ThunderClan, of course!" The silver she-cat was growing frustrated. "Do you even know what you put the clan through when you disappeared? How your parents and brother felt when they thought you were _dead?!"_

Poolkit's jaw fell and her green eyes widened in incredulity. "I…I have a brother? I have parents? They…They're alive?"

Screechthroat backed up a step. This was crazy. Could she really not recall Blazestar, Emeraldsong, and Batflight?

"You…" she whispered, shaking her head. "You really _don't_ remember, do you?"

Poolkit swallowed. "I have no idea what any of you are talking about."

Screechthroat and Shineflicker, both too shocked to speak, turned to Ruffleslash. He clenched his jaw in emotion before speaking.

"You're Blazestar and Emeraldsong's daughter. You were swept away by the ThunderClan and WindClan border river during a storm. You never showed up again. Everyone thought you were dead."

The previously dead she-cat sat with horror on her face. Terror flicked through her eyes as they darted about in disbelief.

"No," she meowed, shaking her head. "You-you're mistaken. That isn't possible. Just ask Rippleshade, he'll tell you."

Screechthroat blinked as Ruffleslash turned to call the other tom over. "What do you think happened?" she asked her, filling the silence as the other RiverClan cat padded. "Why can't you remember?"

Poolkit looked away, refusing to meet any of their gazes. "I…I wasn't able to—and still can't—recollect much, actually. Just…waking up." She looked at Rippleshade. "Rippleshade, tell them. I'm a RiverClan cat, through and through."

He nodded after a moment of hesitation. "We took her in. I found her, actually, washed up by the lake. She couldn't have been more than a moon old. She'd hit her head incredibly hard and we weren't sure she'd make it, but she pulled through. Afterwards, we questioned her about where she was from and who she was, but…."

He looked at Poolkit. "Streamwhisper, what are they saying?"

"They…" Her face was conflicted, doubt and bewilderment on her face. She was putting things together. "They say I'm from ThunderClan."

Ruffleslash stepped forward. "You asked her where she was from, who she was. What'd you say, Streamwhisper?"

She looked up slowly, realization on her face. "I…I said that I c-couldn't remember anything. Not even my name."

That was it. That was why she never came back to her family, to her friends, to her clan. She'd lost her memory. And RiverClan hadn't known who she was, so they'd taken her under their wing and nurtured her. She'd grown up thinking she was a RiverClan cat, thinking she had no family, that they'd abandoned her on that stormy night that she couldn't recall.

And Screechthroat had thought her to be dead the whole time.

"This…" Poolkit mewed quietly. "This is true, isn't it?"

 _The truth will be revealed._

Screechthroat nodded, not having the strength to say anything. She didn't know how this could be true, but it was. It was as real as the sun in the sky, looking down on them with cruel amusement.

And she wasn't sure what to think about it.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechthroat paced, head down, outside of the camp boundary. She could hear quiet chatter from the inside; news was spreading.

 _What's happening?!_

 _I can't process this!_

 _I don't understand!_

 _I…I just…._

It was too much to take in. The cat who she'd always thought of as dead, dead because of _her,_ was alive. Her death had driven her insane, had filled her nights with unceasing nightmares and her waking hours with visions of blood and torture.

And…and she talked to her, too! She was in her head! She'd talked to her every day, was always tormented by the dead she-cat!

But…but…that didn't make any _sense!_

Letting out a huff of frustration, Screechthroat plopped herself on the ground, feeling tears pricking at her eyes. This was too overwhelming for any cat to handle, especially one of her ailing mental state.

She was about to let out a small sob when she heard two cats pushing their way roughly through the reeds, coming to stop just on the other side of a barrier that separated them from Screechthroat. Her ears pricked at the fuming growl that belonged to a cat whom she knew all too well: her sister.

Screechthroat knew she shouldn't eavesdrop. Her sister deserved her privacy. But this was just too interesting, too hypnotizing to ignore.

"How?" she heard Shineflicker snarl, directing the question at the cat who stood next to her, radiating fury and unease. "How could you do it, Flamelick?"

 _Flamelick?_

 _What?_

"I—" the tom started, but he let out a sigh before he could get much further. "I-I know you're not happy, but I wasn't thinking."

"Oh, that's obvious! No one in their right mind would do what you've been doing!"

"It's been crazy, I know," he said slowly. "But I haven't thought about the consequences of it—"

"At all?" Shineflicker snapped. "Not once over the course of these past six moons? Flamelick, I worried about you! You haven't gotten a good night's rest since StarClan knows when! And…and now I piece together why…."

She let out a breath, clearly hurt. "You couldn't tell me. You couldn't trust me. I was your apprentice. I questioned you about this because I worried and cared, and in the end, you still weren't the one to tell me."

"I should have told you, I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, you should have told me! Flamelick, did it ever cross your incredibly _selfish_ mind that you weren't the only one who cared about her? That she had parents, a brother, friends who loved her? And you never told them! If you'd done that from the beginning…well, she could be a ThunderClan warrior now instead of a RiverClan fish!"

"I…." Flamelick's voice was choked with guilt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I just…I don't know, I was too excited to…."

Shineflicker shook her head, sniffing. "You don't think, do you? You have no idea the impact you have. If only you'd alerted someone, _anyone…_ things could be so different. And…and Screechthroat!"

Screechthroat tensed at the sound of her name, thinking that her sister had found her lurking in the shadows, but the silver she-cat continued her rant.

"Think about Screechthroat! She's been tortured by this ever since she was two moons old! _Two moons!_ She's blamed herself! She's gone crazy at the thought of what she's 'done!' You could have stopped all of the pain she's gone through!"

"I—" Shineflicker wouldn't let her old mentor get another word in.

"But no. You had to keep your little secret, had to prowl around in the shadows with your little RiverClan sweetheart. Tell me, Flamelick…did you even tell her?"

A moment of silence, then the whispered question. "Tell her what?"

"About ThunderClan. About her home. About Batflight, Blazestar, Emeraldsong. About why you couldn't take your eyes off of her at my first Gathering. Yeah, Flamey, I remember the first Gathering, when you were staring so entranced at the RiverClan cats. I didn't realize _why_ until today though. I should've known. But did you tell her?"

The silence was deafening. And the lack of word from the tom was enough of an answer for Shineflicker.

She scoffed. "Typical. You just lie to everyone. To me, to her. Well, I clearly won't be the biggest of your worries after this. It'll take a miracle for her to forgive you for holding this from her."

The sound of reeds being shoved aside roughly greeted Screechthroat's ears as Shineflicker shoved past Flamelick, heading back the way she went. Flamelick followed after her, calling her name in desperation, leaving Screechthroat to her thoughts.

 _Flamelick…my first Gathering…_ that's _why I ran into him after it was over! He'd been talking to Poolkit!_

 _He was with her afterwards and that's why he was so scared when he thought I may have seen! He didn't want it to get out!_

That's _why he hasn't been getting any sleep! It's been moons since he started being so exhausted…since I was first apprenticed, really._

 _And all this time…when Flamelick's been off with her, a_ RiverClan cat….

It all came crashing down on her. Why the voice in her head hated RiverClan, why they never wanted her to look at them or sit next to them during gatherings. Why they had wanted her to leave the river clan's territory so early that morning. Why her eyes changed yellow whenever she was talking to the voice in her head, not green, which was the actual color of Poolkit's eyes, the color that she had forgotten until recently.

The voice in her head was not Poolkit.

They'd lied to her.

They hadn't wanted her to find out the single flaw in their plan.

But things had come crashing down when RiverClan asked for assistance.

And now, the jig was up.

 _The truth will be revealed._

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2710 words. Not bad.**

 **We have reached that part of the book (for me, at least) where every single chapter is incredibly important or exciting. From here until about chapter 67, and then chapter 74ish after that one until the end. There are just a few in the middle that are like slowish but important chapters that need to be there.**

 **But no matter about those, THESE are the exciting ones!**

 **And, for anyone, who's wondering, THIS is** ** _my_** **sequel idea: Streamwhisper and her journey. I'll give you guys more details on it when TAS is almost done, which won't be for a VERY long time, but still.**

 **QOTDT1) Was there enough foreshadowing throughout the chapters leading up to this one for it to make sense that Poolkit is Streamwhisper and that the voice in Screechthroat's head isn't actually Poolkit? I did my best, honestly.**

 **QOTDT2) Who IS the voice in Screechthroat's head? (probably another obvious one)**

 **QOTDT3) what do you think of my idea for a sequel (I described it in the author's note, if you skipped over it)?**

 **OK, I hope you liked the new chappie! I'm so excited that this part of the story has arrived!**

 **I'll update again once I get 30-40 reviews! Don't forget to suggest, correct and review!**

 **Byeeeee!**


	46. The Revelation of Her Secret

**You guys. We did it. I can't believe we did it.**

 **No, YOU did it. You guys actually managed to get this story to over 1000 reviews. I can't believe that you guys are actually this amazing.**

 **AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Seriously, I never expected this story to get even 100 reviews! And here it is, with over 1000, and is in the top 15 reviewed stories in the fandom. Like, how?! You guys are AMAZING!**

 **I felt like I should do something to "honor" everyone who has reviewed, so I took about 3 hours out of my time to go through every single review and write down everyone's username. So here they are, every single person who has ever reviewed TAS (even the one person who called me an utter idiot in chapter 7). A HUGE SHOUTOUT TO YOU ALL! I'D BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU!**

 **Reviewers (in alphabetical order):**

 **A Faded Soul, AkaneLovesItachi, AspenpawLover, allthoselittlelights, Anonymous, Aspenfur, Alicat, AspenRuffle, AquaJinx, Butterflymeadows, Burrfrost, BlazingSunrise, Broken The Soulless Goddess, budguthrie, BottomKek404, BronzeOakleaf, Brightfrost123, BunnyTheBonnie, Bob, Crystalfall, Catzrule, catgirl2900, Cloverfrost, Caseygreen509, CaseyCat17, Cloverpatch, Cosmicjade, Cheeryblossm, CakeCat, catlover216, Cassieopeia's Dream, Calis, Dark Side of Eden, Diamondthorn, Dreamdancer48, DA BEST STORY, Danca Gurrrl, Darkshadow, Dewmist, derpysquirrel, Dawnflight, Every Wolf Has Its Howl, Emberstrike, Featherfrost of Stormclan, Frostpaw, Firesaphire, FirestarIsLife, Frostfur4Life, FerncloudLover, Frostfur12345, Forgotmyuseroops, Guest (All 5 billion of them XD), Grassblade, Gorgestar, Glodkies, Goldenvine128, Graystripe, Greyclaw of RiverClan, Gayfeather, Here Comes The End, HeilBastet, Hazeldapple, hayjay5304, iLoveIt, imadiamion, Icefrost, Ironblade1788, Ivystar138, ItsMeLillia, I-really-hope-not, juli.r, juniperbranch, Jays Shadow, jade fang, JonnyDeino, Jayssdjdjakaksj, Jayfeather04, Kozukicks, KajkaElina, KittenWhiskers, Kaylee, krustykrabpizza, Liz, Lady Trashcan, LilacKitten, MyDearNewt, moonstar, MothFlight35, Mossberry, Mr. Hi guy, Mintfrost, mmmidk, Meow, Mintkit, MinerKitten, marchingbandbae, NavieRoseDragon, Nightleaf79, Noobah9, Of Storybook and Novels, Owlfall, Ozzpelt, Ov, Pebbleheart25, putridporridge, Pebble That Shines, Pikawarriorcat, plasmablast, PigeonDerp, puppies forever, Pandas2003, Pondfrost, Person 3, Pashhash, Qui3tSt3ps, Rivermoon, Random person, Riversong, Rainsky of, riskybanana, Rainstorm of ShadowClan, Random D, Rainfrost, Sad Book Fan, Stormshadow3, Silver Shadows in the Night, Sin0001, Silverleaf The Sky Warrior, scourge728, ScatteredRoses5620, Skyleaf12, Stargone, SilverRain 903, Sir CJ Campalot, Shadowglow's Reign, SHADEMOON AGAIN, Signerz, Swirlspot, Snowpaw, Shad, Stormclaw79, Shadow Jumper, Saphiredragon13, That Peregrine Falcon, The Moon's Silent Echo, Terra Wolf-Robinfang, The Striking Storms, TigerTabbyCat, Taco In the Sky, TheWingedTaco, Truffle, Tigerstar, Trinity, trombones4life, TrinityMatrix, UnicornToast, Unluckysaurus, Wondershade, WildChild13, WyldClaw, WishpeltLuvsPugs, Warriorcat lover, WHY, Willowheart of FluffClan, Willowstar, Warriorcatsfan1, WarriorsSilver, xxRainmistxx, Zeldaaaaa**

 **If my calculations are correct, that is 167 readers with accounts/unique guest names and God only knows how many readers who wrote a review under the name of guest. I sure don't XD**

 **Once again, thank you all so much! I love you all! You mean the world to me! Please enjoy the next chapter and be sure to review XD ;)**

 **Reviews: 1021**

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. . . ….. . . .

 _"_ _For all they were sure of was that they had each other's presence on that blustery leaffall day, helping each other through the reeds, keeping each other sure and happy."_

 _~Ruffleslash, thinking_

. . . ….. . . .

Ruffleslash sat next to Aspenleaf, watching as the events played out around him. It was a blustery leaffall morning, a morning that was teeming with RiverClan gossip. For across the clearing, three members of ThunderClan had just arrived.

The two older cats, a black tom with a ginger chest and paws and a bright white she-cat, were talking to each other in quiet tones, hardly daring to believe and hope that what they'd been told was true. The third cat, a young warrior tom, was sitting with a blank look on his face, dull shock and disbelief in his eyes.

Blazestar, Emeraldsong, and Batflight.

There to see Poolkit, or rather Streamwhisper.

Ruffleslash was still unsure of how to address her.

Looking to his old apprentice, he saw utter conflict on her face. She was frowning with a pained and panicked look in her blue green eyes, which were constantly flicking between their normal color and one of a harsh yellow.

She never had explained to him why that happened.

But he couldn't find himself bothered with that particular detail at the moment. Instead, he saw the vulnerability on her face and the infinitesimal fear that shook her pelt ever so slightly. Her fur was disheveled and it looked as if she hadn't groomed herself in at least a day. Her changing eyes flicked about nervously, as if she feared that someone was about to jump out and surprise her.

A sudden tension in the air distracted Ruffleslash's thought process, and he looked across the clearing to where Streamwhisper had finally made her appearance from out of the leader's den, where she'd just finished talking to Palestar. She looked at the three shocked ThunderClan cats, head high, though she was clearly shaking with nerves, and padded over to them warily.

Emeraldsong was overcome with emotion, so much that she could barely walk. She took a slow step forward, hardly daring to believe that this was even happening.

"P-Poolkit?" she whispered, eyes filling with tears.

Streamwhisper stood there, green eyes that were the exact same shade as her mother's staring back. "I…I don't know."

Blazestar, his mate, and Batflight all exchanged broken looks. "We can talk," Blazestar said quietly, in the gentlest tone Ruffleslash had ever heard escape him. "Talk to us."

Streamwhisper hesitated, but she nodded, and the group of four escaped to Palestar's den, who allowed them to use it in solace. As soon as they were gone from the clearing, the whispers picked up again and the gossip continued.

Aspenleaf let out a breath, head drooping, shoulders slumped. The stress, oddness, and confusion of this current situation were clearly getting to her, as she could barely hold her head up.

Ruffleslash stood, prodding her shoulder gently with his tail. Her blue green and yellow eyes flicked up to his, a question clear in them.

"Come on," he said, nudging his head towards the entrance to the RiverClan camp. "Let's get out of here for a while."

Sighing but not opposing his suggestion, Aspenleaf got to her paws and allowed herself to be led away by her previous mentor. They pushed their way through the reeds, using their shoulders to move aside the stubborn grasses.

To be completely honest, Ruffleslash hadn't a clue where he was going. He didn't live here, after all; how could he be expected to know?

But he let the sound of rushing waters guide him, and the noises proved to be reliable. For soon, the two cats emerged from the tall stalks to see a flowing river which ran past their paws and away into the lake. It shone a light grey under the cloudy sky, and the frothy white of the tiny rapids contrasted greatly to the dark moods of the cats. The pebbles which were constantly being attacked by the water lay smoothly on the floor of the riverbed, their various shades of brown and silver only adding to the bland mood of it all. The tan dirt beneath the ThunderClan cats sloped downwards, mixing itself among the other colors. It was bleak, but it was beautiful at the same time. Quite the picture to behold.

Yet Aspenleaf noticed none of this, for she simply sighed and settled herself next to the rushing waters. Her head was bowed again, and she refused to look at the dark ginger tom who was so concerned with her wellbeing.

"So," Ruffleslash started, settling himself next to her. "How are you through all of this? I know this must be awful."

"I…I don't know," Aspenleaf admitted, shaking her head. "This has all been so weird. And things were hard enough before, but I just don't know what to think now."

Ruffleslash frowned slightly. "Think about what?" At her silence, he leaned forward. "You can tell me anything, you know. I'm here for you."

She swallowed, looking up at the sky. "It's just…I…you wouldn't understand."

He smiled and shrugged. "Maybe not. But I can try to."

Aspenleaf sniffed and relented. "Fine. But you're going to think I _am_ insane."

"I could never think that."

"Well, you're about to be proved wrong," she said with just the tiniest of purrs, but it was stifled as soon as she started explaining.

"You see, I have this…voice in my head. She wasn't always there, but now she's like a constant presence. She doesn't really leave, is mostly just quieter at times." At that, her eyes flashed yellow for a moment and Aspenleaf's face grew annoyed for a brief second before she continued explaining.

"It started after I got back from WindClan when I was a kit and I heard that Poolkit had died. I blamed myself, as you obviously knew, but the matter wasn't helped by the voice. She made me feel ten times worse about it, to the point of where I'd lose my mind.

"And then…" She hesitated, shooting Ruffleslash a glance from the corner of her eyes. "Do you remember that day, the day before my first Gathering?"

Ruffleslash thought back, reaching into the many hallways of his mind and conjured up the door that held the recollection of that certain day. It wasn't distant, as many other days were, but stood out like a red berry in a sea of green leaves.

That was the first… "fit" that Aspenleaf had had. She'd freaked out at the sight of a dead mouse, the mouse she'd previously hunted and killed. She'd nearly torn her own paw off in her desperation to get away from it, and to this day, Ruffleslash was still unsure of why.

But he just nodded. "Yes, I remember."

Aspenleaf swallowed again, looking at her silver paws. "Well, that night, as I fell asleep, I fell into conversation with the voice in my head. And sh-she told me…" She choked on her words slightly. "She told me that she was Poolkit. That I'd killed her."

Ruffleslash's jaw dropped, but he closed it before she could see. So basically, there was a voice in the she-cat's head that had been tormenting her, and had _lied_ about her identity, saying that she was the kit whom everyone assumed to be dead? The cat whom Aspenleaf had always thought she'd killed?

"That's barbaric," he growled. "She lied to you. How could anyone do that to you? To an apprentice, at the time?"

Aspenleaf shook her head. "I don't know, but I believed her. After all, even before she said that she was Poolkit, she'd been blaming me for her death. It all fit together, I guess. I never stopped to assume that she could be lying.

"I've been so _stupid,"_ she managed through gritted teeth, tail lashing. "I was never suspicious through _any_ of it! Looking back, none of it adds up! Her lapse in memory of who several cats from ThunderClan were, like her own brother and Flamelick. And she always had an unexplained hatred for RiverClan, of course, but that makes sense now. She never wanted me to figure out her secret, that Poolkit never really died.

"Oh," she added, "and she never wanted me to call her Poolkit. It was especially idiotic of me to overlook _that_ one. She said it was because she didn't like the name. How dumb of an excuse _is_ that?"

Aspenleaf let out a harsh laugh. "But perhaps the one that gave her away the most is the fact that she has green eyes. How could I have forgotten that?"

Ruffleslash frowned. What? "What do you mean?"

Aspenleaf looked at him. "Poolkit, or Streamwhisper or whatever, has green eyes. That's clear the moment you look at her."

Ruffleslash swallowed. "S-so?"

"So," Aspenleaf explained, chuckling and shaking her head at her own foolishness. "the cat in my head has _yellow_ eyes."

"How do you...?" Ruffleslash blinked as he put two and two together. Her changing eyes. They changed to _yellow._

" _That_ explains it!" he exclaimed. " _That's_ why your eyes change! It's because you're talking to her in your head, isn't it? When they're yellow instead of blue green, she's talking!"

Aspenleaf's eyes flashed yellow for a second and Ruffleslash frowned. "What'd she just say?"

"She said, 'you got yourself a keeper, here, Screechy. Real clever, this one is.'" Aspenleaf tried biting back a smile. "She has a bit of an attitude. Very sarcastic as you can tell."

"Yes…" Ruffleslash said lowly, eyes narrowed. "I suppose she is."

Aspenleaf groaned, head flopping to her paws. "I just _cannot_ believe I overlooked all of that! I should've known from the beginning that something was up. But like an ignorant kit, I ignored it."

Ruffleslash watched her sigh, ears down in misery and defeat. She looked utterly broken, weak. She was disappointed with herself, clearly believing that she could've avoided much harm had she just thought things over more.

"Hey," he said quietly, laying his tail over her shoulders. "It's okay. All of that is a lot to deal with for an apprentice and a young warrior. You did very good to handle it by yourself for so long. You should know, though, that you could've come to me. I'll always be there for you."

She shot him an appreciative glance. "Thanks, Ruffleslash."

"And, if it helps," he purred. "I never would've been able to have a voice in my head and get through the day. I would've gone nuts in the first twenty minutes. You wouldn't be able to coax me out of the safety of my den."

Aspenleaf laughed. "Oh, you overexaggerate. You'd have done fine, probably better than me. I've just been dealing with it for a while now, so I've grown used to it at this point."

Her expression saddened. "I just don't know what to think anymore. I don't know who the cat in my head is, and I know that she'll use my confusion to her advantage and never tell me who she is. I'll have to figure it out on my own, of course, and I don't know where to start."

At her gloomy features, Ruffleslash's heart was filled with sympathy. "Try not to focus on that now, Aspenleaf. You have a lot on your mind, clearly, so try to ignore that one thing. Focus on, I don't know…this river."

At his suggestion, her blur green eyes flicked to the rushing water. She smiled slightly.

"I guess we kind of _are_ on vacation right now, huh?" she meowed. "May as well appreciate it."

"Exactly!" Ruffleslash reasoned, nodding vigorously. "Take in the sights, breathe in that air, feel the water beneath your paws! Hey, maybe we'll even learn how to fish."

Aspenleaf let out something that sounded like the mix of a snort and a laugh. "Me? _Fish?_ Um, I'll pass—"

"Oh, no!" Ruffleslash snarled playfully. "We didn't come all the way to RiverClan territory for you to just back out of fishing! Come on, get up!"

"Ruffleslash," she laughed. "No, I don't—"

But he was already pulling her to her paws, eyes narrowed in mischief. Their emerald depths held fun and a dash of cunning, as if he had a secret. But it was a secret he wouldn't tell her, not now, at least.

He pulled her over to the edge of the river. "Alright…fishing…I don't know how to fish," he admitted. Aspenleaf laughed rolling her eyes, her previously blue mood forgotten for the time being.

"Oh, really?" she asked good-naturedly. "I never would've guessed that a ThunderClan cat doesn't know a RiverClan skill."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved away. "I'll figure it out."

He dipped a paw into the water, immediately jumping back at the coldness of it. But he came back, putting his paw in again and shivering.

"Mousedung, that's cold!" he barked out. "But…all for the greater good, I suppose…."

"Don't go too far in or you'll get another cold!" Aspenleaf warned.

Ruffleslash gave her a smirk. "Me? Get a cold? That's never happened!"

Aspenleaf gave him a look that screamed "are you serious?". "Hmm, has a certain Ruffleslash forgotten when he got a cold and I had a certain substitute mentor?"

"Ugh," he drawled. "Don't remind me."

Ruffleslash was finally able to convince his old apprentice to try to fish, and they laughed together at their many failed attempts. Once, Ruffleslash leaned a bit too much over the side of the river and fell in, but where he sat, dripping wet, was too shallow for him to be moved downstream by the current. After her first reaction of gasping in surprise, Aspenleaf burst out in purrs and laughs, rolling on the floor in amusement.

 _Funny, is this?_ Ruffleslash thought, a sly grin coming across his face. _I'll show her funny._

He reached up and pulled her in after him, and she fell with a yowl of shock. She pretended to fume at him in anger, but instead soon resorted to splashing water in his direction.

What ensued next was what could only be described as a battle of mass, for whoever was larger had the upper hand. So obviously, Ruffleslash won that game, being able to splash more water at her body with his larger legs and paws. Within moments, however, the both of them were drenched.

As the sun set, they climbed from the river, shivering but happy. They made their way towards the RiverClan camp, and after a moment's hesitation, for he was unsure of how he'd be received, Ruffleslash pressed himself against Aspenleaf as they padded. A moment later, he felt the comfort of the she-cat pressing back against him, her fur moving against his as they headed away.

 _For…for warmth, right?_ the ThunderClan tom asked himself. _Right?_

 _Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you'll believe yourself eventually._

But whether it was for warmth or something else, it really didn't matter to either cats. For all they were sure of was that they had each other's presence on that blustery leaffall day, helping each other through the reeds, keeping each other sure and happy.

And really, wasn't that all that mattered?

. . . ….. . . .

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2500 words exactly. Like damn.**

 **Ok, so the ThunderClan cats are going to be staying in RiverClan until about chapter 50, when they head back to the forest. Just a heads up XD**

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	47. Foolish Memories

**OMG HUGE SHOUTOUT TO AQUAJINX BECAUSE I FORGOT TO PUT THEIR NAME ON THE LIST OF REVIEWERS AND I FELT AWFUL ABOUT IT! I added you in, AquaJinx, but I felt you deserved a shout out for my lack of brains XD**

 **Enjoy! It's kind of a filler, but I think it's still good XD**

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 **. . . ….. . . .**

 _"_ _Screechthroat felt sympathy for her, for the cat who had had no idea of her past, not until recently, when the full-blown truth had come into her life in a way that could be described as no less than a slap to the face. And that slap had left her sprawling and winded, had left her to question her very purpose in the clans."_

 _~Screechthroat, thinking_

 _. . . ….. . . ._

Screechthroat shivered as a cold gust of wind swept through her fur. She fluffed out her silver and black pelt, head down while she padded onwards; though the lake was beautiful, of course, walking next to it had its drawbacks, particularly that the winds that ran off of it would chill a cat to their bones.

But she had to ignore that small detail, for she had more important things to focus on, including but not limited to the she-cat who padded next to her. She, too, had her head down, but her green eyes were much more conflicted and bewildered than Screechthroat's blue green ones. For the first time in her life, the ThunderClan cat realized, she was the lesser of the two cats present as far as inner turmoil went.

Well, maybe that wasn't true. The now-unidentified voice in her head had not been ceasing her torment.

But that was something to worry about later.

Screechthroat turned to the cat next to her, ears down as she surveyed her. She seemed lost, sad, confused. It made sense, of course, what with all of the life-changing information that had been thrown her way so indelicately. No one would be able to go through all of that without breaking in the slightest.

But Poolkit—er, Streamwhisper—seemed awful. For the past few days, she hadn't been talking much to the cats in RiverClan or ThunderClan, or at all, really. In fact, it was a miracle in itself that she was there with Screechthroat in the first place, not to mention that she'd been the one to propose the idea of going out for a walk. Clearly, she had a lot on her mind, most of which must include Screechthroat, or Streamwhisper wouldn't have made the attempt at speaking to her.

It seemed, to Screechthroat, at least, that the RiverClan warrior was an incredibly proud she-cat. She had a certain air about her, an air that was clearly discernable to anyone paying attention, one that demanded respect. She was obviously quite stubborn, quite tough, and quite unyielding. That, again, was clear.

So seeing her now, shaken and disputed, was not a welcome sight. Screechthroat felt sympathy for her, for the cat who had had no idea of her past, not until recently, when the full-blown truth had come into her life in a way that could be described as no less than a slap to the face. And that slap had left her sprawling and winded, had left her to question her very purpose in the clans.

Not to mention that if the conversation Screechthroat had overheard between Shineflicker and Flamelick held any truth in it, Streamwhisper would also be feeling betrayed. She must have put the pieces together by now, the pieces of why Flamelick had seemed so enamored with her, a seemingly random and trite RiverClan cat. And he had never even told her why.

Screechthroat shivered as another burst of wind fell over her pelt. She turned to watch the lake, the grey stretch of water that reflected the sky and their current situation alike. Oh, how perfect it was that the weather was as colorless and dull as the mood.

Streamwhisper sighed, her black tail whipping in the wind. "So…ThunderClan, huh?"

Screechthroat nodded, unsure of how to respond. "Yeah. ThunderClan."

The RiverClan she-cat let out a long breath, black ears twitching. Her shoulders seemed to sink in her pelt as they plodded on, the entirety of the situation hitting her full blast.

"I just…I don't understand," she whispered. "This is crazy! How can _I_ be from ThunderClan? I haven't a memory of the place!"

They came to a small hillock, a single tree resting on the waving grasses. The lay beneath it, looking out over the silver lake, content to simply sit as they talked.

Screechthroat's eyes shot to the cat beside her for a moment. "Would you like me to tell you about it?"

Streamwhisper hesitated, but nodded.

Screechthroat rested her head on her paws and sighed. "The trees reach into the heavens in ThunderClan. I've tried to climb them to the top before, but it's impossible. And there's more underbrush than you could ever imagine. You'd love the way the sunshine glints off of the leaves and flowers. The ground slopes down towards the lake; you don't notice it much the farther you are from the water, but it gets more obvious the closer you get."

She sniffed slightly and closed her eyes. "We went out into the forest with your father, once." Screechthroat could feel Streamwhisper stiffen slightly beside her, but she continued. "We were collecting cobwebs. Everyone had a buddy. You were with Wingfeather, our medicine cat, if I remember correctly. I went with Wonderstrength, Wonderpaw at the time, and that's when I first heard of the trouble WindClan had been giving ThunderClan."

Screechthroat screwed her eyes closed harder, wishing she could forget the foolish thoughts she'd had as a kit. "That's when I came up with the plan to go to their camp, the plan that took you away from us."

Silence met her words, and Screechthroat thought the RiverClan warrior had to be furious with the childish idea she'd had as a kit, that she had to be blaming her for the way her life had turned out.

She'd be correct in doing so, of course. It was completely Screechthroat's fault. She'd devised the plan, after all.

But when she spoke, Streamwhisper's voice was gentle. "Will you tell me about it?" There was a quiet pleading in her voice, the need to know what happened to her to bring her to the wrong clan.

Screechthroat nodded as she dived back into those memories, those memories that she wished with her whole life that she could forget. The memories of the event that had been the beginning of the snowball effect that had changed her life for the worse.

"We snuck out that night," Screechthroat started, swallowing to keep her cool. "You, my brother, Whiskercry, my sister, Shineflicker, Batflight, and I left the nursery. We were almost caught, too, but we managed to escape. It was a stormy night, but it wasn't raining before we crossed the river border between ThunderClan and WindClan. So we found a shallow part of the river to cross and made our way to their camp.

"We had to leave soon, of course, because a few warriors were out and about. But by the time we made it back to the river, it was pouring rain. The river was raging, completely overflown. We rushed to find a way across, and in our desperation, we settled on using a fallen tree as a bridge. But as we were crossing it, a wave of water came rushing at us. It was too big…and it was coming too fast; we didn't have enough time to do anything. So…so we were all washed away, just like that."

Screechthroat looked at her paws, flicking her tail. "Shineflicker, Batflight, and Whiskercry were all lucky; they were carried back into ThunderClan territory. I was swept into WindClan, though, and they kept me prisoner, saying they'd give me back in exchange for land. But ThunderClan refused, and they took me back in a battle. I was so excited to be back in my own clan, but when I got returned…."

She blinked back tears. "Emeraldsong was distraught. Blazestar seemed lost. Glacierfire, my mother, was hiding something. I don't know how I failed to see it before I did. But they told me you were dead, and things spiraled out of control for me. I blamed myself…and…."

Screechthroat didn't know what else to say. She couldn't mention the voice, that would only make Streamwhisper think of her as a mad cat with issues.

Which, Screechthroat supposed, was true, but she didn't need to know that.

Screechthroat sighed. "Things went badly after that. Things seemed darker, Blazestar has never been the same, and I've never forgotten. How can I? I 'killed' you. But now, you're here, and things are more complicated than ever."

A pressing silence filled the air, and Screechthroat looked over at the she-cat next to her. Her ears were down and her white pelt was considerably ruffled. Her eyes seemed haunted, their green depths carrying an overwhelming sadness and confusion. Screechthroat looked ahead at the lake again; she'd said all she needed to.

"Thank you," Streamwhisper said quietly. "I had to know. You seemed like the best cat to talk to. And I'm sorry for all you've been through. That must have been terrible."

She nodded, giving the cat a shaky smile. "It's alright. I've gotten used to it all, in a way."

The RiverClan cat smiled back at her. Though a gloomy expression was on her face, she seemed lighter at the same time, as if a great weight had been taken from her shoulders. She finally knew where she was from and what had brought her here.

"I think I'd prefer my situation over yours," Streamwhisper said, purring slightly. "I really am sorry, though. If there's ever anything I can do to help you, just ask. If we really were good friends, then it would be unfair to take that away."

Screechthroat blinked, eyes widening in surprise and joy. After all of these moons, all of the wallowing and pain, she would finally have Poolkit, or rather Streamwhisper, back in her life. For she was alive, very much so, and she was willing to be friends again, even though it was Screechthroat's fault that she was taken away from her rightful family and friends. That fact meant more to the ThunderClan cat than she could ever express.

"Thank you," she whispered, dipping her head. "I'd like that."

Streamwhisper let out a breath, a breath of relief. "I'm just glad I understand it all now. Though there are still some things to think over and a few choice cats I'll need to talk to."

The word left Screechthroat's mouth before she could think to keep it inside of her. "Flamelick?"

Streamwhisper started at the name, green eyes widening in shock. "Wha—y-you know about that? How?"

There was no way in all of StarClan that she was going to admit to eavesdropping on a conversation between Shineflicker and the aforementioned tom, so she simply shrugged, trying to play off her slight panic. "When your sister is Flamelick's apprentice, you hear of some things you probably shouldn't."

Streamwhisper rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yeah…yeah…ughhhh. Flamelick."

Screechthroat couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. Now that their formerly blue moods were gone, she could laugh with reason. "No, I feel you, Streamwhisper."

The she-cat smiled, and shot her a mischievous look. "Yeah, well, speaking of toms…I heard Flamelick has a brother."

Screechthroat's laughter died in her throat as Streamwhisper purred. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ruffleslash, ay?" she prodded. "I can see it between you two."

Screechthroat gaped. "What?!"

"Oh yeah, it's obvious. You've got it."

"It?"

" _It."_

Screechthroat tilted her head, smiling slightly at their rather odd conversation. "And what, pray tell, is 'it'?"

Streamwhisper smirked at her, her ear flicking. "Oh, I think you know."

The ThunderClan cat swallowed, rolling her eyes in an attempt to hide her growing confliction. "I don't see it."

"Well, everyone else does."

"Everyone else?!"

Streamwhisper sighed as she stood, shooting the black and silver tabby a look. "Oh, please. I haven't even known you for a quarter moon and it's as clear as day to me. Well," she revised as she looked at the weather around her. "not the _current_ day, but it's as clear as a sunny day. It's obvious."

Screechthroat stood as well, flicking her friend with her tail. "Fine. Think what you want, but you're crazy."

Streamwhisper shrugged. "That isn't a bad thing."

The two walked off, heading back towards the camp. Things were better now between them, easygoing, but their last conversation left confusion in Screechthroat's mind.

If Streamwhisper could see something between her and Ruffleslash, after only knowing her for a few days, how could something _not_ be there? And how much longer could Screechthroat deny it to herself?

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2029 words. It felt longer to me but meh *shrug***

 **Ok, so I hope you enjoyed. Not many announcements today…yeah :l**

 **If you like Harry Potter, go check out my HP fanfiction, "Of Pasts and Redemptions"!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO GO AND VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! LUV YA!**

 **QOTDT1) what is the worst ending you can imagine for this story? Worst as in anticlimactic or stupid or just full out dumb, like Screechthroat falls in love with Thornstar and kills everyone. Like that's stupid. That kind of ending. Not like something dramatic, like the death of a beloved character, which would be sad, but provide at least a good, dramatic end. You know?**

 **QOTDT2) what's your favorite fandom other than warriors?**

 **QOTDT3) Ok so I got a review from a guest and it said "*paid* this is pretty good!" I have been puzzling over this for the past 15 minutes because I have no idea what that means. I'm pretty sure it's an insult, but I wasn't sure, so do any of you have a clue to whether or not it's is insulting TAS? XD**

 **QOTDT4) Uhhhhh…idk, what's the dumbest warriors name you can think of?**

 **So…yeah. I hope you liked the chapter! I love Streamwhisper, she's legit.**

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 **Byeeeee!**


	48. Mysteries and Lies

**...**

 **Oh…heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy guys…..**

 **…**

 **I love you. Don't hate me. I'M SO SORRY AGH ENJOY THE NEW CHAPTER EVEN THOUGH I'M A COMPLETE IDIOT! I STILL LOVE YOU *CRIES VERY LOUDLY* ENJOY PLS AND REVIEW**

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. . . ….. . . .

 _"_ _It's pointless to beg. I am immovable on this. I will never let you forget about what you did to me, even if you can't remember it yourself."_

 _~Dead she-cat_

. . . ….. . . .

The sun shone through the clouds and sprayed the RiverClan camp with light. The cats who roamed about it yawned in the early morning, tails swishing and ears flicking as they prepared for the day.

Though she was not a true warrior of the clan in which she was staying with, Screechthroat acted like them in that she was tired yet had to get ready. Her blue green eyes blinked quickly in an attempt to awaken the exhausted she-cat, yet no matter how much they closed and opened again, she seemed to remain tired and unready for the day that had arrived.

It was any other day, of course, just a normal 24 hours in which things had to be done, but that did not mean that Screechthroat felt like doing those particular things.

Nonetheless, the silver and black tabby warrior joined her sister by the group of cats waiting to be sorted into patrols for the day.

Shineflicker shot her a small smile. "Hey," she greeted quietly. "How's it going?"

Screechthroat shrugged. "As well as it could be, I guess. You?"

Shineflicker paused before responding. "Eh."

Screechthroat thought for a moment, wanting to ask her sister something but unsure of how she'd be received for voicing her question. She did so against her better judgement.

"And…" she started. "how's everything with Flamelick?"

Shineflicker froze for a moment. Her silver ears twitched, showing her discomfort at the topic. "I…" She sighed. "I'm not sure. I'm assuming you know of everything that's up if you're asking me about him?"

Screechthroat nodded. "Yeah. I, uh, overheard you and him talking the other day. Sorry for eavesdropping."

Shineflicker sighed. "It's fine. You were as much a part of that conversation as he was." She flicked her green eyes over to her sister's. "I'm really sorry about everything he did, or didn't do, I guess. And just…I'm sorry for everything in general that's happened. I know I haven't been the greatest sister in the world about it. I haven't always been there for you when you needed me and I'm really sorry about it. I hope you know that I _am_ here for you in case you need it. We're sisters. We should always be here for each other."

Screechthroat gave her a small smile. "Thank you. And it's absolutely fine, Shineflicker. I didn't always go to you for everything, either, so we can both be blamed. I'll remember what you said though."

They smiled at each other one last time before they were sorted into the different patrols for the day. Shineflicker was off to patrol the WindClan border while Screechthroat was with Shrimpclaw, Lilystride, and Terrorfall at the ShadowClan border.

They set off, the brisk leaffall winds whipping their fur. But today, it felt nice, refreshing. It was not yet a cold wind, for leafbare was still at least a little away, so the cats chose to relish the kind weather. The raced by the blue waters of the lake, smiling as the scent rushed through their pelts. Screechthroat sighed in contentment; overlooking the dramatic and overbearing events of the past few days, RiverClan really was rather nice.

The group of four slowed to a trot as they turned away from the lake. The two RiverClan cats stayed in front, while the ThunderClan cats took up the back, walking side by side.

Terrorfall inhaled loudly. "So," she let out. "these past few days have been…crazy."

Screechthroat chuckled. "I feel liked 'crazy' barely begins to explain them."

The black she-cat nodded. "Very true, very true. Is insane better?"

Screechthroat purred. "Hardly, but yes."

Terrorfall looked over at her as the group began climbing an incline that led to the tree line. "Screechthroat, I just want you to know that if anything is ever bothering you, or you feel like you need to let anything out, you can talk to me. I'm here for you."

Screechthroat smiled. Boy, many cats were offering their help to her today.

Of course, it made sense. She'd recently found that Poolkit was alive, and she had until then blamed herself for her death. Only, of course, to find that—surprise!—she wasn't even dead. It was confusing. And stressful. And so overly complicated that Screechthroat felt she might go insane.

Well, more insane than she already was, at least.

So obviously it made sense that cats were telling her that they'd be there for her if she needed a shoulder to lean on.

"Thank you, Terrorfall," Screechthroat said. "It means a lot."

The older warrior dipped her head and purred. "Anytime. You know I've always had a soft spot for the kit I once saved."

Screechthroat laughed. "Yes, thanks for that, by the way. It's nice to be alive."

The sentence unwillingly forced her mind to a memory, a memory that had occurred many moons ago, during her first moon as an apprentice. It was after her first battle, the night after Smokeleg had died. She was in the Great Oak, swaying unsteadily in the breeze. Ruffleslash was on the ground below her, shouting to her through the shrieking winds of the forest. She'd hollered back, tears in her eyes, saying that her life wasn't worth living.

The night she'd almost killed herself.

Screechthroat shook her head slightly and blinked. Wow, that had happened a long time ago.

She remembered her father's death as if it had happened seconds ago. She'd tried her hardest to convince herself that he was still alive, had even shouted in front of her entire clan that he was talking to her, but in the end, not even she could look into his cold, soulless eyes and say that he was still breathing.

And accepting that he was gone had shaken her to her roots.

The memory of his death still caused Screechthroat's heart to ache, for how could it not? Smokeleg was her father, after all. He'd died before she was even a full moon into her apprenticeship. And getting over her hardcore depression brought about by his death hadn't been an easy or short process.

But what, or rather who, had greatly helped her to get over it? Terrorfall.

How had she done it? Looking back, Screechthroat remembered a night by the lake, talking as the waves crashed over the sand. Terrorfall had shared with her a very broad story of her life, where she'd come from, and explained to her that she shouldn't feel responsible for Smokeleg's death. She told the apprentice that it wasn't her fault that he'd died, that she could have done nothing to change it. She shouldn't blame herself for it.

And after listening, Screechthroat had been comforted and was somewhat relieved about everything, if only infinitesimally. Did it still sting that her father was gone? Yes. Did she still think that she was partially responsible? Of course. But in the long run, the conversation she'd had with Terrorfall had made her feel so much better. She went away from it a fuller cat.

And she was incredibly grateful for it.

But still…she was curious.

"Terrorfall," Screechthroat began as the ShadowClan trees approached. "Can I ask you a question?"

The red eyed she-cat nodded. "Shoot."

"What…" Screechthroat paused, thinking of how to word it. "Where exactly did you come from? What happened before the clans?"

The effect that the simple question had on the cat was astounding. She seized up, muscles bunching beneath her coat, and her eyes grew wide, almost panicked.

Screechthroat swallowed as Terrorfall's ears flattened, immediately regretting her question. Clearly this was not something that the cat enjoyed discussing.

Terrorfall opened her jaws, hesitating for a moment before answering. "Err…it's…it's complicated. Long story."

Screechthroat nodded quickly, wanting to make amends. "I understand. It's fine, you don't have to tell me. Sorry for asking."

They padded on in a somewhat awkward silence. Screechthroat could relate to not wanting to tell someone else a secret (for she'd had several herself, clearly), but that didn't stop her from being incredibly curious and mystified by Terrorfall's reluctance. Something _big_ had to have happened in her past for her to be so shaken up even at the prospect of sharing it with someone else.

But she wouldn't push her about it.

As the patrol reached the border, Shrimpclaw and Lilystride hurriedly began marking the tree line. Their actions were rushed, much faster than any normal patrol's.

Yes, there were only two of them refreshing the scent markings, for the ThunderClan cats couldn't mark the RiverClan borders, but even so, they seemed frantic about doing so. As if they needed to leave as soon as possible.

The two forest cats exchanged glances. "Uh," Screechthroat started. "What's the hurry exactly?"

Lilystride, a black and silver she-cat, looked over at them. "ShadowClan is the hurry."

Terrorfall tilted her head in confusion. "Meaning?"

The other RiverClan cat, a dappled silver and white tom by the name of Shrimpclaw, hurried along the border while the three other cats followed. "Can you not relate?" he asked. "Have they not been as needlessly…hostile towards ThunderClan?"

Screechthroat exchanged a glance with Terrorfall. "Well…I guess so. They've been pretty aggressive lately, but that's just ShadowClan. They're always like that."

It was the RiverClan cats' turn to exchange glances. "I suppose," Lilystride sighed. "But it seems that any time we encounter one of their patrols at the border, they snap at us for next to no reason. Like they're begging for a fight." She rolled her eyes. "As if we didn't have enough on our paws already with WindClan."

Shrimpclaw nodded. "Whatever. Let's just get it over with."

And so they hurried along, refreshing the scent markings quickly as they could.

. . . ….. . . .

Screechthroat stood in a dark clearing, shadowed trees encircling her as a harsh wind shook her pelt. A thousand voices clawed at her mind, shrieking at her incessantly in the black of the night.

Ears pressed to her head in a fruitless attempt at blocking them from her mind, Screechthroat looked about warily and in a sense of fright. She knew this was all a dream, and yet the fact did nothing to calm her racing heart and nerves.

"I know you're there!" she screamed to the voice in her head. "Show yourself!"

Her only response: a harsh laugh.

Then a pair of bright yellow eyes opened at the top of one of the trees, squinting in amusement.

"Oh, hey there, Screechkitty!" the dead she-cat greeted in an overly cheery voice. "Didn't figure I'd see _you_ tonight!"

Screechthroat growled as she glared at the two bright eyes that shone in the darkness. "Of course you did. That's why you brought me here."

A cackle. "Oh, silly me, you're correct! But first, how are you?"

Screechthroat cut the formalities. "You lied to me!" she shrieked. "You lied! You led me on for _moons_ instead of just telling me who you are! You let me believe I killed a poor defenseless kit! You made me think it was my fault!"

The eyes narrowed further. "I never lied to you—"

"What," Screechthroat interrupted lowly. "in StarClan's name are you _talking about?_ 'Oh yeah, I'm Poolkit!' what would you call that?"

The eyes in the trees rolled. "Oh, _that._ Well yeah, I'll admit that I lied about that tiny detail."

" _TINY?!"_ Screechthroat exclaimed in disbelief. "Oh, you foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach! I hate you! I _hate_ you!"

"Well," the voice rang out, emanating nonchalance. "My goal wasn't exactly to get you to like me."

"Then what was it, hmm?" Screechthroat questioned. "What was your point in torturing me? In making me see things? In making me watch as a mangled form of Poolkit limped towards me, all those days ago when I was an apprentice? In making me see a bloodied version of my mentor hunt me down in the woods during my assessment? I can only assume that was you!"

The eyes glared down at her. "You want to know why I did all those things? Why I tormented you? And why I'll continue to do so, until the day you die? Fine. I'll tell you.

"I once told you, many moons ago. You cut my life short. You killed me. You are the reason I'm dead, Screech. And I despise you for it, abhor you for what you've done.

"I told you," the dead cat spat. "that I wasn't lying to you. That is what I was talking about. I lied about Poolkit, yes, but only because I knew it would drive you insane. You need to pay for what you've done to me. And what better way than to haunt your mind as the poor little kit that you supposedly killed?"

Screechthroat gaped. "Who-who are you? I never killed anyone!"

The voice laughed, a cold noise filled with malice and empty of any humor. "Oh, how wrong you are. You don't even know what you've done to me."

"Look," Screechthroat pleaded. "I'm sorry for anything I've done to you. But is this really necessary? I was just a kit! I didn't, and still don't, even know what it was that I did! There's no reason to be doing all of this!"

"Oh," the voice responded. "There's plenty of reason. It's pointless to beg. I am immovable on this. I will never let you forget about what you did to me, even if you can't remember it yourself."

She laughed coldly as the wind whipped fiercely and the vision of black trees faded from Screechthroat's mind. She awoke, gasping in her nest, the cat's final words reverberating in her mind.

"Have fun being crazy for the rest of your life."

 **. . . ….. . . .**

 **Author's Note Thing**

 **2280 words. Kinda short, but it fits.**

 **Again. Sorry. Love you all!**

 **Go read Of Pasts and Redemptions if you're into HP!**

 **GO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE!**

 **QOTDT1) If Streamwhisper were given the chance, should she stay in RiverClan or go back to ThunderClan?**

 **QOTDT2) How's your summer vacation going so far? XD**

 **OK I love you all! Sorry again! Don't hate me, I do have a life, after all!**

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